


Little Earthquakes

by aperplexingpuzzle



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, revelation fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-21
Updated: 2011-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24684283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aperplexingpuzzle/pseuds/aperplexingpuzzle
Summary: Backdated work, crossposted from ffn for archiving purposes. See story notes for details.They say that a man is defined by what he does when he thinks nobody's looking. Does the same hold true for ghosts?
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Danielle "Dani" Phantom, Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton, Tucker Foley/Danielle "Dani" Phantom
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A note about this story: Little Earthquakes was the very first fanfiction I ever published, which I've indicated by backdating it with its original publishing date in 2011. Though I'd never really intended to move it over to ao3 (almost ten years later I'm honestly too scared to reread it ^^;;), I saw a post on tumblr the other day about preserving fandom history for the DP fandom in particular that made me reconsider. This is by far my most favorited story on ffn, and to this day gets more traffic than any other story I've posted, so if for no other reason than to save anyone else from needing to read this on ff.net (did you know they have _ads_ in the _middle_ of the story's text now??), I'm posting it here. Again, I feel the need to stress that this was written almost ten years ago, and is hopefully not an indication of my current writing abilities... but at the same time, I'll always be grateful that my earliest attempts at writing were so well received ♡

" _Ghost detected."_

Maddie's pulse quickened, and she slammed on the brakes of the Fenton RV, quickly pulling over to the side of the road. She had just stopped off at the grocery store and was on her way home when she realized that now would be the perfect time to test out the improvements on the Fenton Finder v2.5. School was out, but Danny and Jazz could take care of themselves for a little while, and Jack was so immersed in his latest invention ("The Fenton Ghost Nabber!") that he wouldn't notice if she came home a couple hours late. Not that she had expected to find much—three in the afternoon wasn't exactly prime time for ghost appearances—but she'd hoped to at least pick up some minor level spooks.

" _Analyzing… analyzing… ghost located 500 feet south-southwest."_

Frowning, Maddie looked in the direction indicated. What was a ghost doing in the public park? Well, there were no roads, so she'd have to go on foot. Grabbing the Fenton Finder, she slipped out of the driver's seat, headed to the weapon's arsenal, and, after a moment's hesitation, grabbed the Fenton Bazooka. That would be enough to handle almost any ghost she came across. Flipping the hood of her jumpsuit over her head and securing her goggles, Maddie tightened her hold on the bazooka and stalked silently across the park, eyes peeled for any sign of movement.

" _Ghost located 300 feet ahead."_

She recognized this area of the park. The lack of playground equipment kept smaller kids away, but it was popular with teenagers in the summer because of the many secluded clearings and the huge shade trees. However, on a chilly November day like today, the place was deserted. Grateful once again for the thermal properties of her jumpsuit, she kept walking.

" _Ghost located 100 feet ahead."_

There was a clearing just ahead—that must be where it was hidden. Maddie pressed a button on the Fenton Bazooka, and it powered up with a low whine. She'd have to fix that later—no need to advertise her position to a ghost before she could even see it. Almost quivering with excited anticipation, she dove into the trees ahead of her.

" _Ghost located 50 feet ahead."_

Looking up, Maddie bit back a gasp and immediately muted the volume on the Fenton Finder. Of all the ghosts she might have found, she had never expected it to be this one.

_Phantom!_

Floating several feet in the air, Phantom was hunched over something she couldn't see with his back turned to her. He hadn't noticed her approach, which was probably all that had saved her life. Quickly, she raised the Fenton Bazooka, centering her target within the crosshairs—and hesitated. Maddie had no moral objections to shooting Phantom, despite the current public opinion that he was a hero. He had _shot_ at her and Jack, for heaven's sake! On the same day that he'd kidnapped the mayor! It was amazing how often that little act was forgotten in the town's rush to hero-worship the ghost. No, if she had even an ounce of civic responsibility, she would shoot Phantom _now,_ right now, while he still hadn't noticed her and wouldn't have a chance to defend himself…

But that was the problem. As much as she disliked the ghost kid, something within her objected to the act of shooting down anything, even a ghost, in cold-blood like this. Shooting in battle was one thing—that was self-defense. In the heat of the moment, it was easy to forget what you were doing. However, this felt so _premeditated_ . Hidden in the shadows like this with her gun trained on a target, she felt like some sort of assassin _,_ like a _murderer.._.

_He's already dead, you idiot,_ Maddie scolded herself, tightening her hold on the gun once more and pressing her finger against the trigger. _This is for your family, remember? This is for Jack and Jazz and Danny…_

But still, she hesitated.

Phantom yawned, flipping over onto his side to face her, and she froze, almost shooting out of sheer panic. However, as his carefree posture quickly made it apparent that he had _not_ seen her, she relaxed again. Then she saw what he was holding.

_A book?_ she wondered, letting the tip of the bazooka drop a few inches. It _looked_ like a book, but he was too far away to see it very clearly. Pressing a button on the side of her goggles allowed her to zoom in on his image, and soon she could see him as clearly as if she was standing right next to him. It _was_ a book—Frankenstein, to be exact.

Maddie frowned, lowering the bazooka completely. All thoughts of shooting him were lost in the light of this new mystery. She had often wondered what Phantom got up to in his free time when he _wasn't_ terrorizing the town and causing massive property damage, but this… well, this was nothing like what she had expected. Why was Phantom reading a book? His glowing green eyes flicked back and forth as he read each line, entirely focused on the page in front of him, and for a moment Maddie's own eyes got lost in the motion. It was such an everyday thing for him to be doing that she could almost pretend he looked like a normal teenager. Well, if you didn't count the luminescent green eyes, his slight transparency, or the fact that he was glowing. And floating.

Music rang out across the clearing, and Maddie had to stifle another gasp, sinking further into the bush that was hiding her. Phantom jerked back to awareness, looking around wildly before he seemed to catch himself. With a wry grin, he reached into his pocket and pulled out… a cell phone? Maddie blinked. Where had Phantom gotten a _cell phone?_ She grinned as she wondered what Danny would say if he found out that even the most wanted ghost in town had a cell phone, and she didn't. Then it occurred to her to wonder who exactly would call Phantom on a cell phone.

"Hello?" he said, his voice echoing as if from a great distance the way all ghosts' voices did. She'd always thought there was something vaguely familiar about Phantom's voice, but it was impossible to say exactly what. Phantom's face broke into a grin. "Hey Sam! How's it going?"

He paused, waiting for a response, and Maddie was struck again by how absurdly _normal_ he looked.

"Yeah, I'm practicing splitting myself in two. I think I finally have the hang of it, but I want to make sure before I start working on three. Vlad can do four, you know," he scowled. Maddie was still trying to work her way through that sentence when he continued. "Anyway, I left my other half at the school." He laughed, his face forming into that cocky smirk Maddie knew so well. "Lancer'll never know the difference."

Vlad? School? Phantom couldn't possibly mean Mr. Lancer the teacher—was there some other Lancer, or maybe he literally meant a lancer? Realizing there was no way to figure out everything he was saying, Maddie resolved herself to remember as much as she could and write it all down as soon as she found a piece of paper. What she wouldn't give for an audio recorder right now!

"Anyway, I'm just hanging out at the park right now. Yes, as a ghost. It's easier to hold the duplication that way. No, nobody can see me." He rolled his eyes. "Geez, Sam, don't worry so much! I'm hidden in a clump of trees, and it's not like anybody even comes here during the winter anyway. I'm just reading Frankenstein." A short pause. "Tchh. You _would_ like that book. I can't stand it. I mean, sure, the _story's_ cool, but all of those wordy descriptions kind of ruin it." He made a face, and his voice became sarcastic. "No, Sam, of _course_ I don't have a reason for reading it. I just figured I have _so much_ free time I'd spend it all reading something I _hate_." His face softened. "Actually, I'm reading it because of Dani." Maddie's ears pricked at the familiar name, but then he went on. "You know, Danielle. My 'cousin?' I finally got her settled down and going to school, and then her English class assigns her to read Frankenstein of all books! Apparently her teacher said some stuff…" His voice rose in frustration, and he started floating around in agitated circles. "Of course she's taking it badly! I mean, think about her situation! Anyway, I've tried to talk to her, but she won't listen to me, and I thought that maybe if I read the book myself, I could help her more. If I write my report on it, I can even make it count as homework."

He paused again, for longer this time. Maddie didn't move. She could barely breathe with all of this bizarre information swirling around in her head. Nothing was making any sense. School? Homework? That was what normal teenagers talked about, not ghosts. And since when did ghosts have cousins, or family at all? Maybe Phantom was simply reenacting remembered conversations from his past life— though if that was the case, then who had called him on the phone? Was Danielle perhaps a family member he had left behind when he died, or was she a ghost like him? Maddie's breath caught. What if ghosts actually had some sort of organized _society_? Was it possible that Phantom actually attended some sort of ghostly high school? Sure, it sounded farfetched, but how much of a stretch was it really to think that ghosts might try to pattern their afterlife after the human life they'd left behind? After all, Maddie had never actually gone into the Ghost Zone—she didn't know what it was like. Was such a thing possible?

Phantom started talking again, and Maddie listened eagerly once more.

"You're probably right, Sam," he sighed, then with a half-smile added, "you usually are. I'll give her some time, though I still need to talk to her at some point. Sorry I snapped at you." Glancing down at his phone, Phantom did a double take. "Aw, crap! Is it that time already? Mom's going to kill me if I'm late to dinner again! Yeah, I'll see you tonight for patrol—same time as usual?"

Snapping his phone shut, Phantom stretched, scratching the back of his neck in a way that made Maddie suddenly think of her son.

"Maybe I can introduce Dani to the Box Ghost," he mused, swooping down to grab his book from where it had fallen. "A little misplaced aggression always does wonders for me."

Then he was off, soaring across the sky. Maddie watched his retreating form for a few seconds before slowly standing up, her cramped legs protesting the sudden change of position. Part of her could hardly believe that she'd been within feet of the ghost boy and had simply _let him go_ , but that little voice was tiny now and getting smaller by the second. Madeline Fenton was, at heart, a scientist. That was why she had always been so interested in examining Phantom's remains once they finally got him, rather than blowing him apart "molecule by molecule" like Jack was so keen to do. She was starting to realize that she would probably never get that chance, mostly because she didn't think she had it in her to destroy him anymore—he was too sentient, displaying complex emotions and a level of care for others she hadn't thought a ghost was capable of reaching. No, she'd probably never get to dissect his remains, but it had never occurred to her before how much she could learn from him being _alive_ . Well, not _technically_ alive, but still. Witnessing this single conversation had already challenged many of her theories regarding spectral behavior. Were all ghosts capable of reaching such emotional complexity, or was Phantom simply different?

"I'm going to need some recording equipment," she muttered to herself. "And a camera." Glancing down at her watch, she gasped. "That time already? Dinner's not even in the oven yet!" Grabbing the Fenton Bazooka and Fenton Finder, Maddie dashed back to the RV. Jack could be pretty oblivious when his mind was occupied, but it wouldn't take him long to notice the absence of fudge!

* * *

Danny was already sitting at the kitchen table reading a book when Maddie finally walked through the door, her arms laden with groceries.

"Hey mom!" he said with a smile, but her view of him was quickly obscured as her husband filled the doorway.

"Maddie!" he boomed happily. "You're a little late today! Did you get my fudge?"

"Of course, dear," she said, giving him a fond kiss. "It's in this bag—here, can you help me?"

"What's for dinner?" Danny asked as Jack took the bags and began ripping through them to find the fudge.

"Nothing moving, I hope," Jazz called down sarcastically as she descended the stairs. "I still have nightmares about those hot dogs, you know. Those are _definitely_ going in the memoir."

Jack let out a cry of joy as he found the fudge.

"Chicken casserole," Maddie said, gathering the ingredients from the tattered remnants of paper bags Jack had left behind. "It's going to be a little late, though—I was sidetracked by something on the way home. Have some Fenton toast if you're hungry."

Danny made a face, but set down his book and got up anyway to make some toast.

"What are you reading, dear?" she asked absently, glancing at the table where the abandoned book sat. She froze.

"Frankenstein," he answered, rummaging through the cupboards in search of bread. "Did you pick up any jam from the store, Mom?" He paused when she didn't respond, glancing back at her. "Mom?"

"What class is it for?" she asked, still staring at the familiar book.

"Um, English? Duh?" He waved a hand in front of her hand. "You still there?"

"Yeah," she said, tearing her eyes away to smile reassuringly at her son. "Sorry, just got lost in my thoughts, I guess. Jam is somewhere in the grocery bags… or at least, what's left of the grocery bags…"

"Thanks." Danny started digging through scraps of paper in search of the jam. Maddie watched him for a moment before giving herself a mental shake and turning her attention to the mess of groceries in the kitchen.

_It's just a coincidence,_ she reminded herself. _A weird coincidence, yes, but a coincidence nonetheless. It doesn't mean anything._

Something vibrated in her pocket, and she realized that she'd never unmuted the volume on the Fenton Finder. Pulling it out of her pocket, she switched the volume back on.

" _Ghost directly ahead of you,"_ it said in its cool feminine voice. _"You would have to be some sort of moron to not notice the ghost directly ahead."_ Maddie looked up. Danny waved at her with a sardonic grin.

"Oh, shut up," she said, switching the device off again. "Hey, Jack, I've been doing some rudimentary research on spectral communities. Do you think there's a chance that some ghost children actually attend _school?"_


	2. Chapter 2

Maddie had called herself ten kinds of idiot for going out again today. Sure, she'd managed to come up with all sorts of excuses for why she should—library books needed returning, after all, and she wanted to pick up some specialized materials for one of her newest projects—but she knew when she grabbed the recorder and camera before leaving the house that those weren't her real reasons for going.

_Honestly,_ she had reasoned with herself a million times, _what makes you think that Phantom will be there? I mean, the odds of him showing up in the same place twice…_

Then the Fenton Finder had gone off, effectively shutting that little voice up.

Now, crouching once more at the edge of the clearing, she wasn't exactly sure what she was doing here. The audio recorder was going, but all it was doing was wasting batteries and tape, because Phantom wasn't talking. In fact, he was in almost the exact same position he'd been in the day before—flopped on his side, floating three feet above the ground, reading a book.

_What did you think, that somebody would randomly call him again?_ she thought, irritated with herself. There was still something surreal about being so close to such a powerful ghost, especially one who was normally so flighty, but after watching him sit there for fifteen minutes, even that was starting to lose its appeal. She was just starting to wonder if she should snap a few pictures and go home for the day when he slammed his book shut.

"Okay," he said, and for one heart stopping moment Maddie thought he had spotted her. Then she realized he was talking to himself. "Okay, so I call Dani—no, I go up to Dani, and say—okay, so let's say I take Dani out for ice cream or something." He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up at odd angles. "So I take her out for ice cream, and then we go somewhere private, and I say, 'Hey, Dani, so I just finished reading Frankenstein and I just want you to know that I don't think you're a monster.'" He grimaced, making a face. "Oh yeah, great idea, Phantom. Okay, new plan. I take her somewhere, and we talk, and I say, 'It doesn't matter how you were born, or made, or whatever, because you're still a human being. I mean, half-human. I think therefore I am, and all that crap.'" This time, Phantom groaned aloud. "Wow, this is way too sci-fi!"

Maddie was fascinated. This was exactly what her son Danny did when planning out a difficult conversation. A small smile tugged at her lips as Phantom ran a hand through his hair once more—it was starting to resemble a haystack.

"Yeah, bad plan. Okay, so I meet her after school and take her out for ice cream. Then I take her somewhere, and we talk, and I say, 'Dani, you're not a mistake, and you're not an imperfection. I don't even care that you're my female clone. You are your own person, entirely separate from me, and I love you for who you are.'" Phantom paused, considering this one for a moment, then shrugged. "Nah, too corny." Eying the book again, he said, "Maybe I should actually finish this book first before I try to plan what I'm going to say." Settling into his previous position, Phantom started to read again.

Maddie sat quietly, digesting what she'd just heard. Cloning—could it be possible? Had somebody actually tried to clone the ghost boy?

_No, of course not. You need DNA to make a clone, which ghosts don't have. He must mean something else._

Realizing that it might be awhile before he spoke again, Maddie silently pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil to jot down a few notes. _Exhibits human behavior,_ she wrote. _Displays ability to plan for future. Displays ability to worry about future._ Pausing, she frowned, chewing unconsciously on the eraser. Ghosts had displayed the ability to plan ahead before, but it was this _worry_ that she'd always believed was a human trait. Again, what made Phantom so special?

_Maybe he's a newer ghost_ , she speculated. _If ghosts are the imprints of human consciousness on ectoplasm, then perhaps that human imprint hasn't had the chance to degrade, yet. He must have died really recently to have retained so much human behavior, though._ Her breath caught. Had she _known_ Phantom when he was alive? Somehow, the thought had never crossed her mind.

Realizing that this speculation was taking her nowhere, she decided it was time to take some pictures. Pulling out the Fenton Flash Camera, she set up a full-body shot, and then paused. While ghost physiology was fascinating—the lower half of his body seemed to oscillate between legs and some sort of wispy tail without him even noticing—it was his face that held her attention. Pressing the zoom button a few times allowed her to get a better view of it. His green eyes moved back and forth as he read, and his brow was creased in a small frown. Every now and then he would let out a grunt of disapproval for whatever he was reading, biting his lip in concentration. She wasn't used to seeing him so unguarded and emotive. It was, in its own way, breathtaking.

Maddie shook her head, breaking that train of thought. _Maybe you should join his fan club,_ she thought wryly, snapping the picture. The camera let out a small but audible _click._

Phantom looked up.

"Who's there?" he demanded, dropping the book. Maddie held her breath. Her hiding place was good, but it wouldn't hold up to serious scrutiny. The Fenton Bazooka was just out of arm's reach—though she didn't intend to shoot Phantom, she hadn't wanted to leave herself defenseless, either—but she was afraid that any movement she made to reach for it would draw his attention. Slowly, he circled the perimeter of the clearing, peering carefully into the bushes. Not for the first time, Maddie wondered if she shouldn't order a jumpsuit in a less noticeable color. Not that hers was anywhere _near_ as bad as Jack's was, but still.

"I know you're there," Phantom said, though this time he sounded uncertain. Glancing towards her hiding spot as if he might go towards it, he instead shook his head with a sigh. "Must've been a bird or something," he muttered, reaching for his book again. "Sam's right—I am getting paranoid."

It was at that moment that something hurtled out of the bushes towards him, and the clearing erupted in a cloud of smoke.

Maddie let out a loud gasp that fortunately for her went unheard. Within seconds the smoke had cleared away, revealing Phantom trapped inside a net. Frowning in confusion, Maddie used the opportunity to finally grab the Fenton Bazooka. That hadn't been her net (obviously), and she was sure it wasn't Jack's, but who else—

"Ghost child!" a voice boomed from across the clearing, and a hulking, metallic ghost stepped out of the shadows.

"Skulker." Danny's look of surprise faded away into an expression of… resignation? "I guess I should be grateful that it's been two whole days since I saw you last. How do you keep coming back so quickly, anyway?"

"You're not the only one with a ghost portal," Skulker replied smugly, and Phantom winced.

"Plasmius," he growled. "I swear I'm going to kill him for this. And I suppose he's also the one letting the Box Ghost out every two minutes?"

"I…" Skulker paused. "No, actually. None of us can quite figure out how he does that." He looked stumped for a moment, and then shrugged, an evil smirk reappearing on his face. "Not that it matters to you anymore, because I, Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, have finally captured you!"

"Uh huh." Phantom looked bored. "You got me in a net. _Reeeal_ original. I suppose it never occurred to you that I could just do _this?_ " Curling into a ball, a sphere of green light gathered tightly around him before, with a yell, he released it.

Maddie ducked to the ground as the attack passed over her, and heard the branches rustle furiously above her. When she looked back up, Phantom was panting… and still trapped in the fully intact net.

"Huh," he remarked. "You know, that looked a lot more impressive in my head, where it actually worked."

Skulker's grin widened. "You won't escape so easily this time, whelp. I've specifically designed this net to resist your particular brand of ectoplasmic power. You can't phase out of it in either form, and none of your attacks can touch it."

_Either form?_ Maddie mouthed silently. That net was an interesting piece of technology. She wondered if she could get her hands on it.

"Impressive," Phantom said, for once betraying a flicker of anxiety.

"You like it?" Skulker asked. "Then you'll _love_ this." Opening a panel on the arm of his metallic suit, Skulker pressed a button, and Phantom screamed and convulsed as currents of electricity raced through the net and into his body. Maddie bit down on her lip so hard that she drew blood. She and Jack had long believed that ghosts, who lacked a nervous system, couldn't feel pain. She was comfortable with that belief—she _wanted_ to believe that, and under any other circumstances, she would have claimed that Phantom was putting on an act. But what was the purpose of acting if you didn't have an audience? Phantom had no idea that she was watching. He should have been fine, not gasping for breath (and since when did ghosts breathe?) and glaring warily at the control box in Skulker's hands as if it had the ability to actually harm him.

"Yeah… that was great," Phantom grunted. "But what's the purpose if you're just going to skin me alive? I'm already trapped."

"A deal I made with Plasmius," Skulker said. "I get him a midmorph DNA sample, and he doesn't interfere with me killing you and hanging your pelt on my wall."

"That's still so gross," Phantom muttered, making a face. Then he threw back his head and screamed again as another jolt of electricity shot through him. Bright white rings formed at his center and started to separate, and for a moment she thought she saw something—white—forming between them where Phantom's midriff was. Then, with visible effort, he forced them back together until they disappeared. The electricity faded away, and he was left panting on the ground once more.

"You're only making this harder on yourself," Skulker called to him. "I'll get what I want eventually. If you play along nicely, I might even make your death short and painful."

"Don't you mean… short… and painless?" Phantom gasped.

"Nope," Skulker replied with a nasty grin. "You only have two options—short and painful, or long and painful. You've put me through too much grief already for me to make your death anything close to painless."

Another shot of electricity made Phantom clench his teeth, concentrating through the pain, and almost as soon as the white rings formed Phantom had already forced them back out of existence. What would happen, Maddie wondered, if they managed to travel all the way across his body?

"I don't think you understand that there's no last-minute escape this time," Skulker taunted, initiating another jolt that made Phantom cry out in pain. The white rings were slower to disappear this time. "No friends coming to your rescue." Another jolt. "And _no_ conveniently timed trips to the library to research a gorilla," Skulker spat. Another jolt.

Maddie realized with a start that she was still holding the Fenton Bazooka. Fumbling with the weapon, she brought it up and aimed it at Skulker's head. Then she paused.

_You could walk away,_ a little voice said in her mind. _This is a ghost feud—it's nothing you need to be involved in. Just walk away. Phantom will never bother Amity Park again, and it won't even be your fault._

She shook her head in denial. Whatever happened today _would_ be her fault. Hard as it was to believe, Phantom had finally gotten himself into a mess that he couldn't slip out of. If she walked away now, she might as well have pulled the trigger—the blame would be hers.

_He's just a ghost. Even if he_ does _display human emotions, he doesn't belong on the human plane of existence. No ghost does._

Maybe not, but did any ghost deserve this? Did Phantom? She was running out of time—she could see in Phantom's eyes that he was almost done resisting… whatever the ghost was trying to do to him. Her finger tightened and loosened on the trigger as conflicting thoughts raced through her. She had to choose.

_Choose, Madeline Fenton! Choose!_

She sat there, finger poised over the trigger, and did nothing.

"It's over," Skulker said, and Phantom looked up weakly. "One more shock will give me what I want, and then you're all mine. Not even your ghost powers can save you now."

Something in Phantom's eyes flickered.

"You're right," he murmured. "That net can withstand any amount of ectoplasm I throw at it." His gaze hardened. "But tell me, Skulker—how does it do against _cold?_ "

Icy blue light surrounded Phantom, and frost crept across the grass in all directions. Crystals formed around the net, growing and hardening until he was encased inside a crystal-like lattice of ice.

"What?" Skulker snapped, jamming the button on his control panel again and again. Nothing happened.

"Now," Phantom said in a menacing voice that made Maddie shiver. "Let's try this again."

A sphere of green light formed around him, and this time as it exploded outwards, the frozen net shattered, exploding into tiny shards that stung her cheeks where they hit. Phantom rose out of the wreckage, eyes blazing with ectoplasmic energy, and grinned. Skulker looked terrified. Maddie couldn't blame him.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Phantom said with a smirk. Then, taking a deep breath, he began to yell.

The sound was impossibly loud, and increasing exponentially. Maddie threw herself backwards with a strangled cry, her hands instinctively grasping her ears. The ground rumbled beneath her, and the trees shook violently around her, some of them crashing to the ground. Maddie knew she should do something—gather her equipment and run, probably—but she couldn't take her hands away from her ears.

"Let it stop," she whispered frantically. "Let it stop, let it stop, _please_ let it stop…"

Finally, it ended. Whimpering, she lurched unsteadily to her knees. Aside from a strange ringing in her ears, she couldn't hear anything. She barely noticed as Phantom pulled something out—a thermos? —and sucked Skulker in. Her movements were automatic, first checking her body for bruises or injuries, then collecting her camera with a now shattered lens, audio recorder, and Fenton Bazooka. God, or luck, or whatever was running the universe must have been looking out for her, because her hiding place was still intact. Through all of that, Phantom still hadn't seen her.

Phantom looked at the thermos in his hand, seeming pleased. Then a wave of exhaustion passed across his face, and he sank to his knees, all of the pain from earlier catching up with him. His face twisted into a grimace, and he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up again. Somehow, it wasn't nearly as amusing this time. Then, with a groan that she couldn't hear, he looked up.

He couldn't see her. She knew he couldn't see her, but in her mind, those piercing green eyes stared right at her, accusing, haunting. Maddie did the only thing she could think to do—she ran. A bright light flashed behind her, but she paid it no heed, not slowing down until she reached the RV. Those eyes followed her in her mind all the way there.

She had chosen. She had done nothing, but in the end, that had been her choice. She had left him to his fate, and it didn't even matter that Phantom had somehow managed to worm his way out like he always did. She had chosen.

Her ears rang and her stomach twisted. Why did she feel like she had chosen wrong?

* * *

"Hey Danny, welcome home. Pizza's in the oven."

"Okay, mom, you don't have to shout!"

"What?"

Maddie sighed, rubbing her forehead. In the few hours since the… incident… down at the park, her hearing had made little improvement. The ringing in her ears had subsided a little, but she could feel a throbbing in her temples that made her wonder if she should take some preemptive ibuprofen before it grew into a full-blown headache. Slumped over the kitchen table, she was amazed that she'd even had the strength to put in a frozen pizza—she'd never felt more tired or miserable in her life.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked with concern, putting a hand on her shoulder. A shock ran through both of them, and he yelped, drawing his hand back. "Sorry," he said hastily. "Static electricity. I'm shocking everyone today."

"It's fine," Maddie assured him, waving a dismissive hand and smiling wearily up at him. "It's just been a rough day, is all. I had a little… accident in the lab, and I can't hear very well. It'll pass. Pizza should be done in ten minutes."

"Okay, well I'll be in my room. Feel better!" He mouthed _I love you_ at her which made her smile, then stumbled up the stairs to his room. Now that she looked closer, he seemed about as tired as she felt. She wondered what he'd been up to today.

"Hey Mads!" said a loud voice from behind her, and she winced, clutching her head. "Sorry." Jack lowered his voice to a decibel level that she could still hear, but that _didn't_ increase the pounding drums in her head. "Better?"

"Much," she said gratefully.

"Well, I hope you feel better soon, Mads. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, I don't—" Maddie paused. "Yes, actually. There is something, if you have a bit of time and you don't mind."

"Anything," he said immediately. "What is it?"

She held up the audio recorder that was sitting in front of her on the table. "I recorded a conversation between Phantom and another ghost today—"

"The ghost boy?" Jack asked loudly, and Maddie winced. "Oops. I mean, the ghost boy?" he asked again in a modified tone of voice. "Why did you bother recording him? Why didn't you just shoot him when you had the chance?"

Maddie stared at him blankly. "I… forgot my gun." It felt wrong, lying to Jack, but she didn't have it in her to explain and she didn't think he'd understand, anyway.

"Maddie, you know better than to leave without an ectoblaster," Jack said reprovingly.

"I know, I know," she said, forcing a smile. "It won't happen again. Anyway, I wanted to go over the conversation again, but I can't hear it well enough to make a transcript. Could you—?"

"Of course," he said immediately. Maddie handed him her notebook, and he pressed play on the recorder, beginning to write down what he heard. For a moment, she just allowed herself to sit and relax in the relative silence, trying not to become nauseated by the smell of pizza starting to fill the room. She doubted she'd be eating any dinner tonight. Her head _was_ starting to throb, but she was so tired, and the medicine cabinet seemed so far to walk…

Jack was frowning in confusion.

"You sure this is the ghost boy?" he asked, and Maddie nodded, smiling a little as she remembered Phantom's little monologue that she'd caught on tape. The voices playing on the machine were little more than a murmur to her ears, but she could still tell when Skulker began to talk. Dutifully, Jack copied down what he heard, but something made him stop.

"This can't be right," he frowned, pausing the tape. "Look at this."

Wearily, she read the last thing he'd written.

_I get him a midmorph DNA sample, and he doesn't interfere with me killing you._

"'Killing' is an odd choice of word for a ghost to use," Jack said, puzzled. "Humans slip up sometimes, but ghosts usually don't. And a 'midmorph DNA sample?' Since when do ghosts even _have_ DNA?"

Maddie thought back to Phantom's earlier strange statement about having a clone. She thought of Phantom, breathing when he should need no breath, and screaming when he should feel no pain. She thought of his eyes, which even in death were so full of life, so achingly _human_ , when no ghost's eyes had seemed that way before…

"Since when, indeed," she murmured.


	3. Chapter 3

Maddie _did_ get a headache, a pounding, raging headache that lasted all night long. It still wasn't enough to stop her and Jack from staying up late into the night discussing what she had overheard—a discussion that took place mostly in writing, because as her hearing came back and her headache grew, any amount of noise quickly became unbearable. There was so much to discuss, from the question of ghostly DNA to the fact that not one, but _two_ ghosts apparently had access to ghost portals.

 _They must be natural portals,_ Maddie wrote to Jack. _I can't think of anybody else in the world with the technology to build a manmade portal, except maybe Vlad._

 _Unless he's using ours,_ Jack wrote back. _Haven't you noticed that he's somehow managed to get access to a lot of our technology?_

The two shared a look, silently resolving to increase security in the lab.

Jack had been fascinated by the net that had almost defeated Phantom, and he was determined to build one. Maddie was more interested in the "Dani" character Phantom was so concerned about.

 _I haven't been able to figure out if she's a ghost, or a living relative,_ Maddie wrote. _What could he have meant by "half-human?"_

 _I think Phantom sees himself as mostly human despite the fact that he's a ghost,_ Jack responded. _Maybe he sees her in the same way—a ghost, but still mostly human. I'm going to need a sample of Phantom's ectoplasm to build a resistant net. How can I get that?_

_Get Phantom to shoot at you?_

"Of course! Maddie, you're brilliant!" Jack exclaimed, making Maddie wince and cradle her aching head in her hands. "Oops… sorry, Mads."

Jack went to sleep immediately after that, already planning out designs for a containment device that could hold Phantom's ectoplasmic blasts.

Maddie, though bone-weary, barely slept at all.

There was no question in Maddie's mind the next day over whether she would be going to see Phantom. Nothing could have kept her from going, not even that niggling feeling of guilt that still clung to the back of her mind. She only wished her camera hadn't broken—she had planned on modifying it today to make it quieter.

"What I need is some sort of device that can capture audio and visual information simultaneously," she complained to Jazz over breakfast that morning. How difficult would it be to create such a device? If she started on it this morning, maybe she could have it finished by—

"Umm..." Jazz's voice interrupted her musings. "You mean, like a camcorder?" Jazz was wearing that expression that clearly read, "I really don't want to make you look stupid, but I don't actually see any way around it."

Maddie stared at her for a moment, then smacked herself on the forehead, which fortunately didn't hurt so much this morning.

"Yes. Exactly like a camcorder."

At 3:30 sharp, Maddie was in the RV with her brand new camcorder, whistling in anticipation as she pulled to the side of the road next to the park. Practically vaulting out of the vehicle, Maddie took a moment to spread some mud on her suit, camouflaging the blue color before moving stealthily forward into the bushes, clutching her video camera. And stared.

Phantom wasn't alone.

Another ghost sat beside him—female, by the looks of it, with white hair pulled back into a ponytail and green eyes the exact same shade as Phantom's. Maddie raised an eyebrow at the ghost's outfit, which, though feminized, was still clearly a variation on Phantom's own jumpsuit, right down to the stylized "D" across the chest. The girl ghost looked a few inches shorter than Phantom, and might have been a couple years younger, but the resemblances between them were uncanny. She looked like she could be his sibling, or cousin, or—

_Or his female clone._

Wide-eyed, Maddie examined the girl in a whole new light. So this was Dani.

The two were seated on the dying grass together, licking away at ice cream cones as if it were the most normal thing in the world—as if the very fact that they were eating at all didn't disprove Maddie's previously held belief that ghosts couldn't eat.

 _Jack's never going to believe this,_ she thought, pulling out her video camera and turning it on. The two weren't saying much now, apparently content to enjoy each other's company, but that had to change eventually.

"Mmm!" The ghost girl—Dani—smacked her lips. "You were right, Danny, chocolate is the best! I can't believe all I ever tried before was vanilla."

"Yeah." Phantom seemed too lost in his thoughts to pay much attention to what he was saying. Maddie noticed that his ice cream cone was a lot fuller than Dani's, which was almost gone.

Dani noticed this too.

"Don't you like your ice cream?" she asked, gesturing to his cone.

"Hmm?" He blinked, finally coming to. "Oh—yeah, it's great!"

"Then why aren't you eating it?"

"I am!" Phantom took a lick to prove it. "See?"

"It's dripping all over your hand," Dani said critically.

"What? Oh, gross!" Phantom turned his hand intangible to get the goopy mess off him, which worked—to an extent. However, lacking his hand to support it, the ice cream cone fell, too. Phantom blushed a little as Dani erupted into peals of laughter, almost dropping her own cone. "Heh, oops." Picking it up again, he turned the ice cream cone intangible this time, allowing the dirt and grass to fall away. "There, see? Good as new."

"You're not actually going to eat that, are you?" Dani asked, wrinkling her nose. "It fell on the ground."

"Yeah, but now the ground fell off of it," Phantom reasoned. "Therefore, safe." He took a lick to prove it.

"Eww!" Dani shrieked, throwing her own nearly finished ice cream cone at him. It stuck to his head like a tiny hat, making him look for a moment like some otherworldly clown. He yelped in surprise, ice cream dripping down his face, then grinned.

"Oh, it's _on,_ " he laughed, grabbing a handful of ice cream from his cone and lobbing it at her like a melty brown snowball. Dani gasped as it hit her chest, dribbling down her shirt.

"That was low!" she protested, and, finding she had nothing left to throw, simply tackled him. The two rolled around in the yellowing grass, laughing like a couple of kids, and Maddie smiled unconsciously at their childish antics. It was a side to Phantom that she'd never seen before, ever. _Maybe because every time you see him, you're shooting at him._

Maddie frowned, banishing the troubling thought.

Eventually, the teenage ghosts tired out, and they fell back onto the grass together, panting slightly.

"You've got something on your nose," Phantom said, wiping a bit of ice cream off of Dani's face with his thumb, and she giggled.

"You've got something in your hair," she pointed out, and he made a face, going intangible again so that the ice cream cone fell through. Dani followed suit, letting the ice cream on her shirt drip through her, and soon the two of them were clean again. Sighing happily, Dani fell backwards into the grass, and for a moment, the two sat in contented silence. Maddie shifted uncomfortably—she was starting to feel like an intruder.

 _It's for research,_ she reminded herself firmly. _The theories we can develop, the things we could learn about ghosts, all from recording these conversations…_

Somehow, she didn't feel better.

"All right, Danny," Dani sighed, finally sitting up. "What's this all about?"

Phantom, who had become much more relaxed during their ice cream fight, suddenly looked tense again.

"What, I'm not allowed to take my favorite cousin out for ice cream?" he tried to joke, though his smile was forced.

"Nope," she said bluntly. "Not like this. How did you even find the time? You're always so being Danny Phantom."

"Not too busy for you," Phantom assured her immediately. "I'm never too busy for you. Besides, you'd be surprised how much I can get done now that I can finally maintain a duplicate for a couple hours."

Dani's eyes widened. "Are you a duplicate?" she asked, poking him in the chest as though wondering if he'd disappear. Phantom laughed, swatting her hand away.

"Nope. You've got the real me! Duplicate-me is…" he narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Fighting the Box Ghost," he concluded, rolling his eyes. "Of course. It's weird, but if you think really hard about it, you can see through your duplicate's eyes for a few seconds. Kind of a trippy feeling."

"Lucky," Dani moaned. "I've been trying to form a duplicate for _ages,_ but I still can't—wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed. "Oh no you don't. You are _not_ gonna distract me. What is this about?" Phantom gulped.

"Why does it have to be _about_ anything?" he asked, not meeting her eyes, and she sighed in frustration.

"I'm not an idiot. You show up after school stuttering so badly I can barely make out what you're saying, only to ask if I want ice cream of all things. So we go get ice cream, which you barely touch, and you take me out here. You've been nervous and tripping over your words all day. So seriously, just spit it out. What's wrong?"

Phantom mouthed silently, at a loss for words. Finally, taking a deep breath, he squeaked out, "So—so, um, how's school?"

Dani quirked a confused eyebrow at him. "Fine, I guess? It's school. I've never been to a public school before, so, you know, it's kinda cool."

"You like your classes?" he asked, and Dani frowned.

"Come on, Danny. Is this really what you wanted to talk about?"

"Do you like your English class?"

Dani's eyebrows went all the way up, her mouth forming a small "o" of comprehension. Then she scowled.

"So that's what this is about," she muttered. "Who told you?"

"Tucker," he said, and her scowl deepened.

Maddie's eyes widened. _Tucker_. Could he mean…? No. He couldn't. Danny's friends knew how dangerous ghosts could be, right?

"Should've known he couldn't keep his mouth shut around you," she muttered, though Maddie thought her voice betrayed a hint of—fondness, maybe? "It's not a big deal, alright? I just got a little freaked out is all. I'm over it."

"Tucker said you were pretty upset," Phantom said, his voice gaining in strength. "He's really worried about you."

"He's always worried," she said with exasperation, though there was no mistaking the affectionate tone this time. "He's starting to get a little overprotective, actually, though I have to admit it's kind of cute." Dani giggled, and Phantom made a face.

"I'm not sure which is more disturbing," he said, "the fact that Tucker fell for a female version of _me_ , or the fact that said female version of me actually likes him back."

"I'm not a female version of _anyone_ ," Dani snapped, eyes flaring. Phantom looked at her in shock, and her anger slowly melted away. She looked away, cheeks flaming.

"I'm sorry," Phantom muttered. "I didn't mean it like—"

"No, _I'm_ sorry," Dani sighed. "I shouldn't have yelled. I guess I'm not as over this as I thought."

Phantom tore at the grass in front of him. "You… want to talk about it?" he asked. "Talking's supposed to help, you know… or at least, that's what I've heard."

Dani said nothing for a minute, joining Phantom in mutilating the lawn. Suddenly, she spoke.

"'I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on,'" she said softly.

Phantom stared at her. "What—"

"It's a quote from Frankenstein. I have to write a paper about it by Friday. It's supposed to be about—about…" She took a deep breath. "About why people shouldn't overstep their boundaries and play God, like Dr. Frankenstein did when he created the monster, because nothing they make can measure up… nothing they make c-can ever be happy, or _normal_ …"

Without warning, she burst into tears.

Maddie reeled in shock. Actual, silvery tears ran down the ghost girl's face. Was such a thing possible? She'd never seen a ghost cry. Putting aside whether it was even physically possible for a ghost to cry, ghosts in general lacked the emotions necessary to generate tears. Of course, she'd already realized that Phantom was different in this regard from other ghosts, as was this girl—this clone. Still, to actually see a ghost cry…

 _I shouldn't be here,_ Maddie thought, shifting in discomfort. _This should be private… I shouldn't be here._ But she couldn't leave.

Phantom looked terrified. Hesitantly, he put an awkward hand on the sobbing ghost's back.

"Don't cry," he murmured, but the volume of her sobs only increased. He seemed to be at a loss. Suddenly, a look of determination crossed his face and he wrapped his arms around Dani.

"It's okay," he said gently, stroking her hair. "I'm here. Don't worry."

It took a few minutes of Phantom holding her, whispering comforting words in her ear, but eventually the girl's sobs died down.

"I'm s-sorry," she hiccupped. "I didn't mean t-to cry all over you. Y-you're all wet."

"It doesn't matter," Phantom said, brushing off her comment. "Do you feel any better?"

"A little," she admitted. "It's j-just—" She paused for a moment, breathing deeply to collect herself. "It's just that I'm _not_ normal, and no matter how hard I try, it feels like I could never measure up to you. And don't say it's just because I'm younger," she added firmly when Phantom showed every sign of interrupting. "I know I'm younger, which is why I can't do all the things you can do, but still… I mean, you're _you_. You're Danny Phantom, the hero of Amity Park! All _I_ am is a messed up copy of you. How am I supposed to measure up to that?"

"What makes you think you have to?" Phantom asked, but she went on as if he hadn't spoken.

"And then, to make it worse, there's absolutely nobody in the world who's like me! I'm the only one! I mean, sure, you're pretty different too, but at least you've got Vlad."

"And what a comfort that is," Phantom said dryly, pulling a reluctant laugh from Dani.

"I'm just saying that even though the only other person like you in the world is a massive jerk, there's still somebody in the world who's been through what you've been through. Me… I never had a mom or a dad or a childhood. All I have is a spare room in Sam's house that I have to sneak into so her parents don't know I live there. I wasn't even born—I was _made_. And sometimes I think that maybe I shouldn't have been made at all, you know? It's not like I really have a place here, or anyone who would care if I was gone—"

"That's a lie," Phantom said firmly, and Dani looked up with watery eyes. "Tucker would care, for one. Who else would put up with him?" That earned him another weak chuckle. "I would care, too. You're like family to me."

"But I shouldn't even exist!" Dani protested. "I'm not right, I'm not _natural_ —"

"Since when are either of us right, or natural?" Phantom looked up at the sky, watching the gray November clouds rush across the sky. The wind picked up, ruffling his hair. "Let's face it, we're both the victims of lab experiments to some degree or another. I shouldn't exist—or at least, not the way I do. And you… well, Vlad, shouldn't have done what he did. I don't think it's right to mess with life like that, you know? I mean, just remembering all those mindless clones…" He broke off, and the two of them shuddered together at some shared memory. "But just because what he did is wrong doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. You were a miracle—Vlad was just too blinded by his obsession with me to realize it."

"You really think so?" Dani asked, and he nodded.

"Definitely. And Dani? Don't worry so much about trying to be me. _I_ don't even know exactly who I am yet. How could anyone expect you to?"

"Ha ha, I guess you're right," Dani smiled. Then her grin turned mischievous, and she said, "So, I'm a miracle, huh?"

Phantom turned bright red. "Um, yes? I guess? I don't know, you know I'm no good at this kind of thing! I just… say stuff, and hope it sounds good!"

Dani laughed at his frustration. "It sounded great," she assured him. "Don't worry, I was just teasing."

"Hmph." Phantom tried to hold onto his irritated expression, but failed as a laugh broke through. "Nah, you're right, it was stupid." Stretching, Phantom pushed himself off the ground until he was floating a few feet above it. "You know what is normal about us? Homework, and I've got a ton of it."

"Me too," Dani sighed, floating up to join him. "I haven't even started that English essay. Maybe I don't want to be normal after all."

"I could write that essay for you," Phantom offered hesitantly. "You know, if you want. I need to write a report on Frankenstein anyway."

"Thanks, but I wanted to actually _pass_ English," she joked, though her eyes said clearly that she appreciated what he'd been trying to do. Then she paused. "Why are _you_ writing about Frankenstein? I thought the older grades didn't have to read that book."

Embarrassed, Phantom refused to look at her, and her eyes widened.

"You didn't—did you really read Frankenstein just for me?"

"What makes you think that?" Phantom asked, still determinedly staring at a tree across the clearing, and she grinned with delight.

"You did! I can't believe you actually read that stupid book!"

"Seriously!" Phantom rolled his eyes. "It's the dumbest thing I ever read in my life. The lady who wrote that book could teach Shakespeare lessons on how to be entirely incomprehensible."

"Hey, I actually _had_ to read—you _chose_ to read it!" she grinned. "But… thanks. For everything. I guess talking actually works."

"Yeah, who knew?" Phantom shrugged. "I guess Jazz's psychobabble isn't entirely useless after all."

"I guess not," Dani winked. "I promised Tucker I'd see a movie with him tonight. Dead Teacher XIII, or whatever number they're on now. I'll see you later, though, right?"

"Sure thing! Take care of yourself, Dani."

Dani, who was about to fly off, paused. "Call me Danielle, okay?"

Phantom blinked. "Okay… not that I mind, but why? You've been telling us for ages that it's 'Dani, with an I,'" he mimicked.

She shrugged. "I guess I changed my mind. I mean, if I'm going to start being me and stop being you, then I should stop going by your name, shouldn't I? See you around, Danny."

Phantom watched her leave, scratching his head in confusion, then smiled. "See you around, Danielle."

Maddie didn't hear him, or even notice as he, too, took off into the sky, flying away until he was nothing more than a glowing speck in the distance. She hadn't heard a thing after the words "Jazz's psychobabble." _Jazz._ There was no mistaking that as anyone aside from her daughter. Had Jazz actually _spoken_ with Phantom?

 _Maybe not,_ she reasoned with herself. _Phantom shows up at Casper High fairly often to deal with ghost attacks. Maybe he's only overheard her… or followed her…_

This wasn't making her feel any better.

Jazz _knew_ that ghosts were dangerous. Maddie liked to think that if she'd managed to teach her anything, it was that. Moreover, Jazz had always claimed that she wanted nothing to do with her parents' so-called "obsession" with ghost hunting. So what could have possessed her to seek out _Phantom?..._

Maddie groaned as she realized the answer. How many times had she found Jazz with creepy, sometimes even dangerous boys trying to get them to work through their problems?

 _She's been trying to psychoanalyze Phantom,_ Maddie thought a little incredulously. It made sense, now that she thought about it. The number of times Jazz had defended him to her and Jack, asserting that Phantom was a "good" ghost who had enough to worry about without them adding to the load with their constant attempts to either shoot, destroy, or dissect him. Phantom—in Jazz's eyes, the "troubled teen hero"—would be the ultimate test of her psychology skills. Although how Jazz had managed to find Phantom, let alone get him to talk to her, was a mystery Maddie was dying to know the answer to.

"I'm not sure whether to congratulate her, ground her, or ask her what she's learned," Maddie muttered. Maybe all three.

There was another problem to be dealt with: Sam and Tucker. Either name on its own might be a coincidence, but when put together and combined with Jazz, there was no mistaking who they had to be. Sam was obviously close to Phantom—she had his _cell phone_ number, for heaven's sake, and as far as Maddie could tell, Dani was holed up in a spare room somewhere in the Manson mansion without her parents' knowledge. Then there was Tucker, who not only knew Phantom, but was _dating_ Phantom's clone—a ghost! How was all of this happening, right under her nose? Most disturbing was the fact that her son Danny had to be mixed up in all of this too, somehow. Wherever Sam and Tucker went, he wouldn't be far behind. It might have even been the reason for his skipped classes, broken curfews, and dropping grades, though she had to admit that those had been improving recently.

_What am I going to do?_

Admittedly, she wasn't as upset as she would have been had she found all of this out even three days earlier. Things were… different, now. After everything she'd heard and seen, Maddie could no longer hold onto the belief that Phantom had any hidden inclinations towards malice, as comfortable as that belief had been. She had even, she realized with a start, forgotten to bring the Fenton Bazooka this time, which was a clear indicator of her subconscious trust for the ghost. Still, there was a difference between trusting him not to turn against the town and allowing her children to spend afternoons and weekends with him! So what was she supposed to do?

"Talk with Jazz," she said firmly, shutting off the camera with a _click_ and walking back to the RV. "Talk with Jazz, and then figure out what to do."

There was something she was missing, some crucial piece to this perplexing puzzle. Maybe Jazz could tell her what it was.

* * *

"Honey, could you come help me with dinner for a second?"

Jazz raised an eyebrow at her mother, who was chopping onions, putting them in a pan to sauté. A large book sat open in front of Jazz, with a dozen more sitting in stacks around her, all with titles that would intimidate people twice her age.

"Mom, you know I'm not much of a cook. Besides, I'm kind of busy right now—"

"Then now is the perfect time to learn!" Maddie said brightly. "College is only a few months away, you know."

"Well…" With a longing look at her books, Jazz sighed, standing up. "Alright, but just for a little bit."

"Excellent," Maddie beamed. "You can start by peeling those potatoes."

Jazz bit her lip, staring with some trepidation at the small mountain of potatoes Maddie had gestured to, then sighed again, grabbing a vegetable peeler and starting in on the pile.

Maddie watched her out of the corner of her eye as she slowly started to peel her first potato, forehead creased in concentration, and hid a smile. Jazz was right—she wasn't much of a cook. However, as much as she needed the practice, Maddie had an ulterior motive for calling requesting her help.

"So, what have you been up to recently?" Maddie asked casually, and Jazz glanced at her.

"Preparing for college. I don't want to be behind when I start at Harvard this year, but I'm afraid that Casper High hasn't really prepared me for what it will be like, so I've been doing my own supplemental studies to—"

"Yes, yes, I know about that," Maddie interrupted. "Have you been up to anything else?"

"Not really," Jazz shrugged, tossing her newly peeled potato into a bowl of cold water and picking up the next one from the pile.

"Are you sure about that?" Maddie looked meaningfully at Jazz, who frowned and slowly set the potato back down.

"What's this conversation really about?"

Maddie sighed. "Enough with the act, Jazz. I know the secret you've been trying to hide. I know everything."

The vegetable peeler fell from Jazz's hand, hitting the floor with a clatter. She didn't seem to notice.

"You know?" she asked incredulously. "How?"

"I overheard him talking and put two and two together," Maddie said. "It wasn't that hard to figure out."

"I don't believe it," Jazz muttered, putting a hand on the counter to steady herself. "After all this time..." Looking up at Maddie again, she asked, "Does he know that you know?"

"No."

"Well when are you going to talk to him about it?"

Maddie frowned. "Why would I talk to Phantom?" she asked, and Jazz's face fell.

"You can call him Danny. That's still his name."

"I'll call him what I want to," Maddie said. "And I don't plan on talking to him anytime soon. _You_ shouldn't be talking to him."

"Mom, how can you even say that?" Jazz looked horrified. "Do you expect me to just abandon him? Is that what _you_ plan on doing? He can't help what happened to him—it was an accident!"

"Jazz, I don't exactly see how what I'm doing qualifies as abandonment," Maddie said dryly. "And I don't care how different he is from other ghosts, or how nice he seems—he's still a ghost, and I don't want you spending your time with him."

"Mom, what's wrong with you? How can you be so heartless?"

"What's _wrong_ with me is that I just found out my daughter has been spending her free time psychoanalyzing Phantom!" Maddie snapped.

Jazz gaped at her, mouth flapping like a fish. Finally, she managed a faint, "Oh."

"I understand the appeal," Maddie continued in a softer tone of voice. "A troubled teenage ghost who apparently identifies with humans more than other ghosts would be right up your alley. But I don't care how human he acts or seems—all ghosts are dangerous."

"So let me get this straight," Jazz said slowly. "You're mad at me because you think I've been having therapy sessions with Phantom, who, according to your knowledge, is completely, entirely, 100% ghost."

"Honey, I don't think, I _know_ ," Maddie said, and Jazz nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly, she heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Well, I guess you caught me," she lamented. "And after all the efforts I went through to hide it, too."

"Nothing stays hidden from a mother, sweetie," Maddie informed her, and a funny expression crossed Jazz's face before she bent over hastily, coughing. Maddie raised an eyebrow—that cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh…

"So I'm guessing you want me to stop seeing him," Jazz said as her coughs died down, and Maddie nodded.

"Of course. Like I said, ghosts are dangerous. I thought you knew that."

"He's not," Jazz said seriously. "I mean, he could be if he wanted to be—most people could be dangerous if they wanted to be—but he doesn't." Jazz sighed, turning back to the potatoes. "But if it's what you want, I'll stay away from him. Your timing is awful, though. He was so close to his breakthrough!"

"To be honest, I'm surprised you got him to sit still long enough to talk to him," Maddie said. "What did you two talk about, anyway?"

Jazz gave her an appraising look as if deciding how much to say, then shrugged.

"All sorts of things. The stress he's under from having to deal with constant ghost attacks. His fears that one day his efforts won't be enough, and the ghosts will manage to seriously harm someone he cares about. His fear of being captured and experimented on by the GIW and _other ghost hunters_ ." Jazz glared at Maddie, who winced. "His hurt feelings over the fact that, no matter how many times he tries to prove his good intentions to the people of Amity Park, there are those who still insist on treating him like a _mindless, heartless, emotionless ghost—_ "

"Alright," Maddie interrupted her hastily. "Enough. Point taken."

"I hope so," Jazz said with a grim smile. "I'll stay away from him if you want, but I want you to open your mind a little. There's more to him than meets the eye."

"Believe it or not, I realize that," Maddie assure her, and Jazz raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I guess you could say I've had my mind forcibly opened this week. But I still want you to stay away from him. Oh, and I may not be their mother, but tell Tucker and Sam to stay away from him, too."

It was almost laughable how quickly Jazz's expression changed from confusion to complete and utter innocence.

"Tucker and Sam?" she asked casually. "What makes you think they—"

"I told you, I know more than you think," Maddie informed her. "I can't tell them what to do, but I _can_ talk to their parents, and I will if I think they're still mixed up with Phantom."

Jazz grimaced. "Mom, don't—"

_Ding-dong!_

"I'll get it," Danny called, loud thumping noises indicating his presence on the stairs. "It's for me. Tucker was going to stop by and drop something off with his new _girlfriend_ ," he smirked.

Maddie nodded absently, still looking at Jazz. Then his words clicked in her mind.

_Tucker. Girlfriend._

"Be right back," she said hastily, running to the door and leaving Jazz looking confused beside her mountain of potatoes. It couldn't be. She wouldn't just come here in broad daylight, would she?

"Hey Tuck," Danny said at the door, and Maddie hurried to stand behind him. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she didn't expect to see a short, black-haired girl standing with Tucker at the doorstep.

"Oh, hey Mrs. F.," Tucker said, and Danny turned in surprise.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Getting the mail," she said vaguely. "Who's your new friend?"

"This is Dani, my girlfriend," Tucker said. "Dani, this is Mrs. F., Danny's mom."

"Danielle," she corrected. "My name is Danielle. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fenton."

"Likewise." Maddie couldn't stop staring at her, and she started shifting nervously.

"Uh… Mom?" Danny asked.

"Sorry," she blinked. "That was rude of me. You just remind me so much of… someone else."

"I always hear that I look a lot like Danny," Danielle supplied helpfully. "People always think we're siblings. I'm starting to think we're long lost cousins or something."

Maddie did a double take, examining her again. "You do look like Danny!" Eerily so. "That must have been it. It was nice to meet you, Danielle. I'll see you around."

Forgetting her mail excuse, she walked away, only semi-listening as Danny said, "So you brought the new Doomed game, right?"

Passing the kitchen, and ignoring Jazz's irritated statement that "I can't exactly cook dinner all by myself, Mom," Maddie headed straight to the lab where she began to tinker. Tinkering was good—it helped her clear her thoughts.

"Hey Mads! What's up?" a voice boomed from behind her, and she jumped. She hadn't noticed Jack.

"Not much," she said. "How's the containment device coming along?"

"Just dandy!" he beamed. "By tomorrow afternoon, I should have this baby up and running!"

"That's nice." She had stopped paying attention almost as soon as he started talking. "Hey, Jack. What would you think if you came across a human who was remarkably similar to a specific ghost? Could a ghost… possibly disguise itself, and pose as a human?"

"Now _that's_ a scary thought, Mads," he pointed out. "Almost anybody could be a ghost, and we'd have no way of knowing. I'm not sure that we have a lot of evidence to support that, but if you think it's worth investigating…"

Maddie didn't answer. She wasn't sure what to think. The smell of burning onions wafted down from the kitchen, and she sighed, standing up again.

"I don't know, Jack. I just don't know."

With everything she'd learned from years of studying ghosts, and even with all that she'd learned from the past few days studying Phantom, Maddie was starting to wonder if she actually knew anything at all.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom!"

Maddie jolted awake as Danny called her name for what was probably the fifth time in a row. "What?"

"Pass the salt?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Geez, and I thought _I_ wasn't a morning person!"

"You aren't, but mom usually is," Jazz commented. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night? I told you all those late nights in the lab aren't good for you."

The Fenton family was gathered around the kitchen table eating breakfast, which wouldn't have been odd except that, for once, Danny had joined them. It was a nice change from his normal dashing-out-the-door routine, though even he didn't seem to know how he'd managed it. Maddie hid a smile that turned into a yawn as Danny sent yet another confused look at the clock on the wall. She just might have set his alarm clock back an hour to get him up on time, but she'd never tell.

"I'm fine," she assured Jazz. "I just had trouble getting to sleep last night."

That was an understatement. Her mind had spun itself in dizzying circles for hours before she'd finally managed to drift off. The little sleep she _had_ managed had been filled with disturbing dreams, dreams where she shot down Danielle Phantom, only to see her _bleed_ , turning into Tucker's girlfriend and dying before her very eyes. Those had morphed into dreams of killing Phantom himself, who stared at her in betrayal as his intense green eyes faded into blue. There was something… so familiar… about Phantom as a human, though she supposed that was part of the dream. The details were already slipping away, for which Maddie was fervently grateful.

"Phantom shot at me last night!" Jack boomed proudly across the table. Jazz rolled her eyes, but looked curiously at Danny, who had lost his grip on the saltshaker, spilling salt all over his eggs.

"He… did?" Danny asked, grimacing as he scraped the extra salt away with his fork. "Um, are you totally sure it was him?"

"Totally sure, son," Jack confirmed. "I'd know that ghost punk anywhere. He didn't know it was me, though. He's too scared of my reputation as a fearless ghost hunter to attack me normally! Which is why I had to trick him."

"And just how did you manage that?" Jazz asked skeptically.

Jack gave her a boyish grin and cleared his throat, allowing his voice to become higher and more nasally.

"I am the Box Ghost!" he roared. "Fear me and my cardboard containers of _doom!_ Beware!"

Danny's eyes bulged in surprise.

"That was great!" Maddie said, laughing out loud. "But honey, why did you want Phantom to shoot you?"

"Yeah," Jazz frowned. "I hope you don't add this to your "Why Danny Phantom is Evil" list, because if you tried so hard to hide your identity, he really can't be blamed for shooting you. Although he _can_ be blamed for falling for that lame trick…" she added under her breath.

For some reason, Danny blushed. "Well, I'm sure it was _dark_ , Jazz. Cut him some slack."

"Don't worry, Jazzypants, I already know that Phantom is evil," he assured her, making everyone around the table wince. "I just needed him to shoot at me so I could trap his ectoblast in _this_." He whipped his hand out of his pocket, brandishing a… a…

"Honey, what is that?"

"The Fenton Ecto-Container!" he stated proudly. The object appeared to be some sort of glass sphere, though she assumed it was more complicated than that, and was about the size of a baseball. A pulsating green light burned from within, giving Jack's face an eerie green cast. It was, in a way, almost pretty.

"That's beautiful," Jazz said, echoing Maddie's thoughts. She had leaned in despite herself, fascinated. "It looks so fragile…"

"It is," Jack assured her. "And if it breaks, it'll probably blow the house up."

Jazz blinked, then leaned back again with a grimace. "There's always something."

"What does it do?" Danny asked warily. Unlike Jazz, he had scooted as far away from the object as possible, eying it with distrust. "Capture ghosts? Destroy them, maybe? Turn them to goo?"

"No, though those are all good ideas!" Jack said, and Danny bit his lip regretfully. "All this baby does is catch a ghost's ectoplasmic blast. It's been fitted with a tiny, modified version of the ghost shield, you see—ectoplasm goes in, but it can't go out."

"Oh." Danny relaxed a little, looking curious. "That's kind of cool, I guess. So that's his ectoplasm inside there?"

"I thought you wouldn't have that finished until later this week," Maddie said, and Jack shrugged.

"I had a breakthrough. I was going to tell you, but you'd finally fallen asleep, so I figured I'd better let you rest and go after Phantom myself."

He puffed his chest out proudly, not noticing as his two children exchanged similar expressions of wariness. Maddie noticed, and narrowed her eyes.

"So why did you want Danny Phantom's ectoplasm again?" Danny asked, and Jack grinned, leaning in conspiratorially.

"Well—"

"Jack," Maddie said. "I'm thinking of making some cookies today. Could you start the oven preheating for me?"

"COOKIES!" Jack shouted, forgetting the conversation as he pocketed the Ecto-Container and ran into the kitchen. "Cookies cookies cookies…"

"Did you finish your homework, Danny?" Maddie asked casually, ignoring Jazz's suspicious glare. She didn't like keeping things from her children, but she couldn't trust them to keep anything from Phantom, either, and this was something she had to keep secret. If Phantom knew the exact nature of the net Jack was trying to design, he might put two and two together and realize that _someone_ had been watching his battle with Skulker that day. Maddie… didn't want that, for more reasons than one. Her guilt from letting Skulker almost destroy Phantom earlier that week had yet to wear off, and until she could find a way to repay him, she didn't want him to know about it. Not that Phantom would be surprised if he knew—he'd probably wonder why she hadn't finished him off while he was weak. Still… she would rather he didn't. Besides, if he found out that she had been watching his daily activities at the park, she would lose this priceless opportunity to study and observe Phantom. It was amazingly convenient to know where he would be each day, especially if…

Maddie frowned. Though the idea didn't exactly sit well with her, she had realized that morning that it would be easier to get the answers she needed if she could talk to Phantom face to face, an exchange she would presumably have to force. If Jack's net actually worked, that clearing in the park would be the perfect place to catch him off guard. Phantom seemed remarkably at ease there, even after Skulker's attack. He was certainly less alert there than he was at night, with constant ghost fights putting him on edge. No, it was a good, logical plan, one she should put into action as soon as that net was finished—if only her stomach would stop flip-flopping with guilt at the thought.

 _Stop it_ , she scolded herself mentally. Wasn't she justified? As much as she had grown to... if not like, then maybe fondly tolerate Phantom, didn't she have a responsibility to protect her family? In the end, he _was_ a ghost, and as such he was inherently dangerous! How had Jazz and Danny ever reached a point—behind her back, no less!—where a ghost considered them as _friends?_

"Earth to Mom!" Danny shouted, waving a hand in front of her face. "You are so out of it today. I asked if I could stay at Tucker's tomorrow night. You know, since I turned in all my homework this week."

"Tucker's?" Maddie repeated. "Oh—sure, sweetie. Just clean up your room first."

Danny's triumphant "Yes!" transformed comically into a groan as he dragged himself up to clear his spot at the table.

"Don't worry so much about us, mom," Jazz said softly, and Maddie turned in surprise to find her oldest child scrutinizing her. "I know you want to protect us from everything, but sometimes we know what we're doing. Even Danny does, occasionally. You just need to trust us."

With that, she stood up and cleared her plate, following Danny into the kitchen and leaving Maddie to wonder if her daughter was actually capable of reading minds.

"I trust you, Jazz," she murmured, "but it's a mother's job to worry."

Jack came bounding back into the dining room.

"The oven's on! What kind of cookies are you making?"

Shaking her head to clear the last vestiges of doubt about her decision, Maddie smiled up at her husband.

"Whatever kind you want, so long as you get started on that net. I'll join you as soon as I'm done, okay? I think I've thought of a way to make it ice-resistant."

It was decided. One way or another, Phantom would answer her questions.

* * *

…Well, _one_ of him would, at any rate.

In hindsight, Maddie thought as she crouched in her usual spot behind the bushes, camera in hand, this shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did. After all, he'd been going on about his newly developed ability to duplicate himself all week. Still, it was one thing to hear it, and another thing entirely to see it with her own eyes. She shook her head, bemused. Two Phantoms. _And I thought one was bad enough._

Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst part of the scene in front of her.

"Okay, Danny!" Sam called, aiming an ectoblaster at him… one of him. "Are you ready for this?"

"I was born ready!" one Phantom shouted back.

"And I died ready," the second Phantom added.

"Did you really die, do you think?" Tucker asked thoughtfully, which Maddie thought was an odd question to ask a ghost. He, too, was armed with an ectoblaster, which she recognized with a scowl as Fenton technology.

 _Jazz. Or Danny_. At least that solved the mystery of how Phantom managed to get his hands on their inventions so often, though she had guessed as much when she discovered her children's connection to Phantom. Danny was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered for a moment where he was. Not that she _wanted_ to see him here, really, but she would have expected him to be with Sam and Tucker. Frowning, she realizing he'd probably earned himself another detention. That boy would be the death of her… but at least he wasn't here.

"Focus, Tucker," Sam scowled. "We're here to train, remember?"

"Right." Pivoting suddenly, Tucker aimed and fired, hitting the second Phantom's chest.

"Ouch!" As he flew backwards, his body _flickered_ for a moment—Maddie blinked twice to make sure she was seeing things right—but he managed to pull himself together before he disappeared completely. "Dude, not cool. I wasn't ready!"

"I thought you were 'born ready,'" Tucker quipped, and Phantom made a face.

"Besides, your enemies don't exactly ring a doorbell before they attack," Sam added. "Your duplicate might be able to handle school and the Box Ghost, but he'll be practically worthless in a real fight if a surprise shot from an ectoblaster is enough to make him almost disappear."

"What do you mean, 'worthless'?" Phantom #2—the duplicate?—asked in mock hurt, clutching his heart. "I thought you loved me!"

"Hey, yeah!" Tucker jumped on his words with a sly grin. "Don't you _love_ him, Sam?

"Shut up, Tucker!" Sam growled, blushing furiously.

"Or what? You'll send your boyfriend after me?" he taunted. "Oh wait, make that boy _friends_."

Both Phantoms blushed as red as Sam, narrowing their eyes at him.

"Tucker…"

It was a familiar interaction to Maddie, one she'd seen almost a hundred times over the past few years—but not with Phantom. Puzzled, she scratched her head. _This makes no sense._

Tucker blinked, finally seeming to realize that he was on the receiving end of three death glares, and his grin fell. He laughed nervously.

"Uh… we're supposed to be training, right?"

"Yep," Sam said, aiming carefully and sending a blast right past Tucker's ear. Tucker jumped back with a yelp.

"You're supposed to shoot Danny, not me!"

"Sorry. My finger slipped." She grinned wickedly at him until he gulped, then turned to Phantom and his duplicate. "He's right, though—it's your turn next, lover boys."

"Bring it on," they said, taking to the air with identical smirks.

Sam started shooting again, and Tucker joined in, with a nervous glance towards Sam every now and then. Maddie was more than impressed with their aim—with a little more practice, they might even make decent ghost hunters. The two of them were still no match for Phantom, though, especially now that there was two of him.

"I don't know if this is helping," he called as he almost lazily separated his legs from his torso, allowing a shot to go straight through him.

"Yeah," his duplicate agreed, curving his body around another shot. "This isn't that hard to maintain."

"We need to make this more like a real battle!" Sam yelled back. "Try using your shield, or shooting or something."

"Or both at the same time?" The two Phantoms grinned at each other, then flew together. Dupli-Phantom formed a shield around them both, protecting them, while the original Phantom stuck his hands through the shield, shooting ectoblasts into the trees around them. Apprehensively, Maddie crouched closer to the ground as a shot whizzed over her head.

"Nice move!" Tucker said. "Now let's see how long you can keep it up." Sam and Tucker aimed their guns at the bubble-shaped shield and started firing.

The two Phantoms held up for the first minute, but it was obvious they were tiring fast. Finally, Sam got in a direct shot, and the shield shattered. With identical cries of pain, the Phantoms fell to the ground, the duplicate disappearing on impact.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Sam called worriedly. "We didn't hurt you, did we?"

Phantom groaned as he sat up, but a grin split his face.

"That was awesome!"

"Heck yeah!" Tucker's eyes were practically shining with excitement. "We need to come up with more tactics like that! I never thought about it before, but having two of you opens up a whole new avenue of possibilities!"

"As long as we can build up your stamina," Sam added, "though I'm guessing that'll come in time."

"Yeah, that's how it always seems to work," Phantom nodded. "Of course, if I'd actually been shooting _at_ you, I might have been able to stop you before the shield broke. But you're right!" he added hastily, raising his hands to ward off the lecturing look Sam was sending him. "Stamina's good."

"Do you think you could do two duplicates yet?" Tucker asked excitedly, and Sam frowned at him.

"Danny's already tired—"

"No, I want to try," Phantom interrupted. "It's what I've been working towards all week, right?" He closed his eyes, concentrating, and his body split once, reforming his first duplicate. "Okay, there's one…" Face scrunched, his body stretched again… then snapped back together, leaving two heads on one body.

Mouth dropping open, Maddie stared in amazement, but the teens in front of her seemed mostly unfazed.

"Darn it," the two… three Phantoms sighed together. With a pop, Phantom pulled himself back together, and his successful duplicate disappeared. "Still stuck at one, I guess."

"Don't worry, you'll get it," Sam said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Phantom grinned again, unable to stay down for long. "That was cool, though. You know, the shield thing."

"Seriously," Tucker agreed. "Being able to simultaneously defend and attack? That's gonna be useful, especially when you need to buy some time."

"And unexpected," Phantom added. "For now, at least. I might even be able to take on Vlad if I work hard enough. I'll have to, if he's really stuck on that idea of cloning again."

The three teens shared a serious look.

"You haven't told Danielle about that, have you?" Tucker asked worriedly, and Phantom shook his head.

"Not yet. Maybe not ever, if we can put a stop to it before she finds out. She has enough on her plate as it is—after living for so long in the Ghost Zone, starting a normal life has been hard for her."

"You're gonna have to watch your back, you know," Sam said. "Just because Skulker failed once doesn't mean Vlad's going to give up. It just means he's probably going to come after you himself."

"Yeah, I know," Phantom sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do about him. I mean, it's not like I can just throw him into the Ghost Zone like any other ghost, you know? And I can't… can't kill him or anything, either. I feel like all I can do is sit here and take what he dishes out, and I hate it."

"Maybe you could trap him in a thermos indefinitely?" Sam suggested, but Phantom shook his head.

"What if he starves to death or something?"

"Well, he has to die of old age sometime, right?" Tucker said optimistically. "I mean, he's ancient, isn't he? He's got to be, like, maybe sixty."

"Um, hello?" Sam said. "He went to college with Danny's parents, remember? He has the hots for Danny's mom. They're like the same age, and his parents are _not_ sixty."

Maddie frowned, confused. This wasn't making any sense. From the little she'd heard about this mysterious "Vlad" so far, she'd assumed he was a ghost. Wasn't he supposed to be the only person in the world like Phantom (whatever _that_ meant), as well as the one behind the cloning of Phantom and the creation of Danielle? But the way they were talking about him now made him seem human—after all, since when did ghosts starve to death? Or die of old age?

An odd thought struck her. _Danny's mom_ … Sam had to be talking about _her_ Danny, right? Not Phantom? Their conversation had been almost impossible to follow up until now—another example of why she needed to talk to Phantom face to face—but Sam couldn't possibly be referring to Phantom's mom. Which meant… they were talking about her. And if they _were_ talking about her, and Vlad _was_ human…

" _He went to college with Danny's parents. He has the hots for Danny's mom."_

"No way," Maddie whispered. "Not possible."

Not… Vlad Masters?

"I highly resent the direction this conversation is taking," said a cold, smooth voice, and Maddie jerked violently, rustling the bush in front of her. Fortunately, the movement went unnoticed as everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the tall, blue-skinned ghost who had simply _appeared_ in the middle of the clearing.

"Vlad!" Phantom said, startled, shifting instinctively into a defensive position. Sam and Tucker tensed behind him, aiming their ectoguns at the intruder. "You know, if you didn't eavesdrop on conversations that weren't meant for you, you wouldn't get offended."

The ghost smiled, showing off an impressive set of fangs. "I'm afraid old habits die hard. I removed most of my cameras from your home, Daniel. Be grateful for that."

When she'd first heard the voice, Maddie could have sworn she recognized it as Vlad Masters. Hearing it again, though, she realized it wasn't his voice—though similar, it had that same echoing quality as Phantom's. So Vlad _was_ a ghost? Did that mean that Masters had nothing to do with this? She even recognized the ghost, which she hadn't expected. He'd made his first appearance a couple years ago, when he'd overshadowed Jack during their college reunion at Vlad's… mansion…

Her breath caught. That was too much coincidence. Masters _had_ to be involved with this… but how?

"Most?" Phantom repeated suspiciously, then shook his head. "You know what, I don't even want to know. What do you want, Vlad? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Ah, yes." His lips curled into a smirk. " _Training._ I understand you've achieved your first duplicate? Congratulations, my dear boy, though under my tutelage you would have achieved so much more. You have to admit, your last attempt to create a second duplicate was nothing short of embarrassing."

"Don't I get any privacy?" Phantom demanded, and Vlad looked amused.

"Daniel, you're in a public park. Personally, I'd be surprised if I was the only one to discover your presence here this week."

For the tiniest second, Vlad's eyes flicked towards Maddie's hiding spot, but she was too busy thinking to notice. Once again, she was weaponless. The Fenton Bazooka was still in the RV, and she and Jack had stopped ordering weaponized jumpsuits after he'd blown up his tenth kitchen table. She didn't even have so much as a lipstick laser. Sam and Tucker were armed, though. If worst came to worst, maybe she could reach one of them in time to take a weapon? She could run back to the RV to arm herself, but that would mean leaving Danny's friends unsupervised with a potentially dangerous ghost for several minutes at least. Could she trust Phantom to watch over them while she left?

While she was still trying to decide, Phantom spoke up.

"Look, do you think you could get to the point for once in your life? If this is about my midmorph DNA, you should know that never in a million years will I—"

"No, Daniel," Vlad interrupted him. "It's not that, though after that little episode with Skulker I can understand your confusion. The poor ghost seemed so certain that he could actually capture you this time that I simply had to allow him the chance… though of course he failed, as usual. Not that it was really of any concern to me. To be honest, I'm starting to doubt that cloning you is really my best option."

"Vlad, that is the most sensible thing that has ever come out of your mouth," Phantom said, sounding almost impressed, but Vlad continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"No, the problem with clones is that they're so difficult to control—I mean, look at Danielle. They are born with no attachments to this world, nothing to lose, which makes them almost impossible to manipulate. However, it finally occurred to me that the reason I have difficulties controlling clones is the same reason I will have no trouble controlling you. You see, little badger, unlike a clone you have a lot to lose… and I am perfectly capable of taking it all away."

Phantom's eyes narrowed, flaring a brighter shade of green as he raised his fists. A glowing shield sprang into existence around Sam and Tucker, and they stepped together, startled.

"Hey, let us out," Sam protested. "We can help you fight!" Phantom ignored her.

"Watch it, Vlad," he growled. "You leave them out of this."

"Oh, I will—for now," he smirked. "But they're not the only people you care about."

Maddie raised herself a little out of her crouch. This was her chance. Phantom had Sam and Tucker covered for now—certainly he could hold that shield long enough for her to run for weapons. She'd grab the Fenton Bazooka and maybe the Specter Deflector and then she'd be all set—

"Going somewhere, dearest?" whispered a voice from behind her, and she whipped around to find Vlad floating above her, smirking slightly. _But I thought…_ Casting a quick look behind her, she saw that Vlad was also still in the clearing.

 _Duplicate,_ she realized, opening her mouth to scream—but then Vlad flew towards her, _inside_ her, and the sound never came out. Her camera fell from slack hands.

Darkness settled across her vision and the world blurred. Her feet stepped forward as her mouth moved, forming words, but none of this was at her command. Images and sounds flashed through her mind—shouting, bright lights, pink and green. All of it slipped like soap through her fingers the second she tried to hold on to it, and soon the darkness deepened and there was nothing to hold onto.

 **Sleep, Maddie,** a voice in her mind whispered, as she sunk further, away. **Sleep, my love. This will all be over soon…**

And then, with a flash of green light she was jolted back to reality.

Bewildered, she looked up to find Phantom aiming an ectogun at her with a grim expression. Surrounding them was a glowing green dome that she recognized as one of his shields. Two Phantoms crouched at the edge of the dome, one maintaining the shield as the other attempted to deflect Vlad's blasts with his own green ones. So he'd managed to create a second duplicate after all. A pink blast hit the shield, and all three Phantoms flinched.

Maddie's mind raced. Had she been overshadowed? They were obviously fighting a battle of some sorts, but who was winning? Then it finally occurred to her that _Phantom_ was staring at her. He knew she was here.

She scrambled to her feet. Face to face with Phantom, barely aware of what was happening, she said the first thought that tumbled through her brain.

"You shot me. Again."

Phantom grimaced. "Of course. Figures that's what you'd remember." He paused, biting his lip as something like anxiety passed over him. "Umm… what else do you remember?"

"Not much," she answered truthfully, though her eyes strayed for a moment to her earlier hiding spot, where she had dropped her camera. "Nothing, really."

Phantom's expression cleared. "Good." He tossed the gun at her, and she caught it automatically, surprised. "Take this, but please don't shoot me. I really need your help. I mean—okay, I know you wouldn't help me, but _Sam_ needs your help. She's hurt." He gestured to the side, and she looked to see Tucker bending over Sam's limp form.

"Is she alright?" Maddie demanded, and an agonized expression passed over Phantom's face.

"I don't know. I think she's just unconscious. But you and Tucker need to take her someplace safe." He winced as another barrage of shots hit the shields. "The RV has a portable ghost shield installed, right? Is it nearby?"

Deciding that now was not the time to question Phantom's knowledge of her vehicle's capabilities, she nodded. "It's parked to the side of the road."

"Perfect. Take them there, then. I'll deal with Vlad." Another shot hit the shield, and he flinched again. "I have to let this shield go soon or it'll shatter and I'll lose my duplicates. Go help Tucker—you might have to cover him while he carries Sam, but I'll try and keep the real Vlad occupied. The duplicates will be easier for you to beat—hurt them enough, and they disappear. I've taken one out already, and the one that was possessing you is gone, so there's only two left. My two duplicates can handle one of them… leaving one for you. Are you ready?"

Hefting her gun with determination, Maddie nodded. "Ready." No ghost overshadowed her and got away with it!

"Good. At the count of three I'm letting this shield go. One."

Maddie sprinted to where Tucker knelt, grabbing his shoulder to get his attention.

"Grab Sam," she muttered. "The Fenton RV's parked to the side of the road—we're about to run for it. I'll cover you."

"Two."

Tucker nodded, and bent down to pick up Sam, grunting under her weight. She stirred at the movement, and Maddie's heart leapt.

Tucker gasped. "Sam? Are you okay?"

"One comment… about my weight… and I'll kill you, Tucker," she murmured weakly, and Tucker grinned.

"I think she'll be alright."

"Three!"

"Let's go!" Maddie shouted as the shield dissolved around her, and Tucker took off at a loping run, Maddie following behind.

Vlad and his duplicates were taken aback by the shield's sudden failure, which gave Phantom a moment's head start. He moved in immediately on the real Vlad, sending off an ectoblast that took him by surprise, knocking him through the air. Phantom's duplicates also moved as one, cornering one of Vlad's duplicates. That left one duplicate free. As predicted, he came after Maddie.

"Get back here," he snarled, flying towards her. Maddie sent a quick succession of shots his way, which he barely managed to dodge. "I don't want to hurt you, but I'll do what I must to keep you here."

"That's too bad, ghost," Maddie called back. "I don't have any problem hurting you."

Scowling, the Vlad-duplicate formed a pink ectoblast in his hand and let it loose—but not at her.

"Tucker, duck!" she shouted, and Tucker dropped down, barely avoiding the blast. Sam moaned at the impact.

While the ghost was distracted, Maddie let off another round of shots, and this time one of them hit its mark. Shouting in pain, the duplicate flickered, and she felt a burst of hope. Phantom was right—a few more hits, and he'd be finished.

"Get up," she urged Tucker, helping him pick up Sam and start running again. Vlad's duplicate had already shaken off the attack and was coming at them again, looking angrier than before.

"Running is useless, Maddie! I refuse to lose you again!"

Maddie shot at him again, but he put up a shield and her shots bounced off harmlessly. The RV was getting closer—they just needed another minute!

"What do you mean, again?" she shouted back, hoping to distract him from attacking Tucker and Sam. If they were safe, she could just worry about herself. "You never had me in the first place!"

"I did!" he shouted, rage distorting his face. "I had you until that idiotic oaf Jack ruined my life and stole you away!"

His words were strangely similar to what Vlad Masters had said that night in the woods so long ago. What was their connection?

_Keep him talking._

"Jack never stole me away from anyone, Vlad—I loved him all along. Even if I hadn't, what makes you think I would ever go with you, a ghost?"

She meant to incense Vlad with her words, but instead they had the opposite effect. He laughed coldly.

"You're brilliant, Maddie—you always have been—but in this case, you know nothing. I would have had you then, and I _will_ have you now. All these years I've waited, wanting you to come to me on your own, but my patience has worn thin. If I have you I have Daniel, and if I have Daniel… I have you. It won't matter what you think of me when you cannot leave me!"

"What makes you think I care what you do with Phantom?" she asked, and he grinned knowingly.

"Oh, you care… or at least, you will once you find out who he _really_ is."

Every inch of Maddie was dying to let him continue that tantalizing sentence, but she had to take advantage of his distraction while she could. Again she shot at him, and this time it hit its mark. Vlad went flying backwards, flickering, and Maddie chanced a glance in front of her. They were almost there!

Tucker reached the RV first, clambering in awkwardly with Sam still in his arms. Maddie got there a few seconds later, but before she could climb in, a pink shot came out of the sky, hitting the RV and rocking it backwards.

"Tucker!" Maddie called out in alarm. "Sam! Are you alright?"

"We're fine, but he hit the control panel!" Tucker yelled back, panicked. "I can't turn on the ghost shield!"

"They don't have to die, you know." Maddie turned to find Vlad's duplicate descending from the air to float grimly in front of her. "I don't really care what happens to them. All I care about is you and Daniel."

"I don't know what makes you think that Phantom cares about me," Maddie said, trying to buy time. Something hit her foot, and she looked down. A tube of lipstick? But she wasn't holding…

Surreptitiously, she glanced at the RV. Sam was hanging out the door, giving her a meaningful look. Was this what she thought it was?

"Oh, Maddie," he said, shaking his head. "You really have no idea, do you? Phantom cares more about you than almost anyone in the world. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet, especially after all that time you've spent spying on him this week, but perhaps some jumps are too big for even your mind to make."

"You've been watching me?" Maddie demanded, and he smirked.

"I'm always watching. Now, drop that gun, or I'm afraid I'll have to do something you'll regret."

With one last glance back at the RV, Maddie bent over. Dropping the ectoblaster, she furtively grabbed the lipstick container, praying that Vlad hadn't noticed. As she straightened, it seemed that he hadn't.

"There's a good girl. Now, come closer."

Maddie stepped forward, heart beating faster and faster. Less than a foot away from the ghost, she could feel the chill emanating off his skin. Running his fingers lightly along her arm, he smiled down at her, and a shiver ran through her before she could suppress it. A smile on that face looked _wrong,_ and there was something hungry in those glowing red eyes.

"Finally," he said, "after all these years… you're _mine_."

Slowly, Maddie shook her head.

"I'm nobody's," she said. "Least of all _yours!_ "

With a yell, she pointed the lipstick container at Vlad, flicking off the lid, and he flinched backwards.

"No!"

…And then there was silence. For a moment they stood like that, eyes squeezed shut, neither one daring to look. Finally, simultaneously, the two of them snuck a peek. Purple lipstick poked innocently out of the tube.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Tucker muttered. Sam looked horrified.

A small chuckle escaped Vlad, then a bigger one, and then a full on laugh. He bent over, unable to contain himself as the laughter came bubbling out.

"What are you going to do, Maddie?" he gasped out. "Give me a makeover? Oh, the horrors!" He doubled over again.

Maddie looked at the lipstick, then back at Sam, then at Vlad, then at the lipstick once more. With a shrug and a grim smile, she tossed the small tube behind her.

"In a way, yes," she said pleasantly, drawing back her fist. Vlad looked up. He barely had time for his eyes to widen before she'd hit him with the hardest punch she was capable of—and as a 9th-degree black belt, that was pretty hard.

Tucker and Sam cheered as Vlad's duplicate flew backwards, dissolving into the air.

"That was awesome, Mrs. F!" he crowed, punching the air, and Sam grinned.

"Yeah, it was." The expression melted away. "But what about Danny?"

As if on cue, they heard Phantom scream in the woods behind them.

Sam's eyes widened. "Danny!"

She tried to get up, but Maddie pushed her down. "You're not going back for him! You can barely walk."

"Tucker, then," she pleaded, but Maddie shook her head.

"Neither of you are going back. It's too dangerous."

"Look," Sam said angrily, "I know you don't like him but he needs our help! So either let us go or—"

"I'm helping him," Maddie interrupted her, and Sam spluttered to a stop, looking dumbfounded.

"You're what?" Tucker asked, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "You're _helping_ him?"

"Do you have your driver's license yet, Tucker?" she asked, ignoring him, and he blinked.

"Um… learner's permit…"

Maddie winced. It would have to do.

"Take Sam back to Fentonworks and have Jack put up the ghost shield. I'll go help Phantom and be back when I'm done." They stared at her uncomprehendingly, and she scowled. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"Take this," Sam said suddenly, digging into her backpack and pulling out an old thermos. Maddie raised her eyebrows as she recognized the device.

"I thought these didn't work?"

"They do," Sam told her. "Danny uses them all the time."

"Of course he does," Maddie muttered. "We're going to have a talk about that when this is all over, by the way. Now go!"

Not waiting for their response, she grabbed the thermos along with the gun she'd dropped earlier and ran back towards the clearing. Behind her, she heard the sound of the Fenton RV squealing away, and she sighed with relief. Now she had only herself and Phantom to worry about.

She smiled, shaking her head as she ran. Maddie Fenton, ghost-hunter, rescuing Danny Phantom, ghost. Who would've guessed?


	5. Chapter 5

The clearing was empty.

Maddie slowed to a stop, confused. She was sure Phantom's voice had come from this direction, but neither ghost was here. Was she too late?

"Come out, come out wherever you are!"

The taunting, sing-song voice floated from the trees, and Maddie realized that they must have moved their fight into the woods beyond the park. Her theory was confirmed when a green flash lit up a section of trees, and Vlad let out a pained yell. Pink sparks lit up immediately in response, but if the silence was any indication, they had missed their mark.

"Enough, Daniel!" he snaped. "This little game of hide-and-seek will get you nowhere!"

Again there was no response. Cautiously, Maddie slipped into the trees, commending Phantom on his choice of battleground. It was obviously his doing—Vlad would have had the advantage in a direct fight, but the cover from the trees allowed Phantom to attack when it was least expected, leveling the playing field. Still, it would be harder for her to assist in a battle like this. She would have to wait for Vlad to reveal himself, though he had gone quiet for now, perhaps realizing that by talking he was giving away his position. As the silence stretched on, she began to picture the two ghosts circling the trees above her, invisible, waiting for a moment to strike. How long would it be before one of them discovered her presence here? For all she knew, Vlad had already spotted her, was perhaps sneaking up behind her…

Noticing that she'd subconsciously pressed herself against the nearest tree, Maddie shook her head in disgust, forcing her muscles to relax. _Stop acting like you've never fought a ghost. You're hardly defenseless, you know._ Tightening her grip on the ectoblaster, she reached back with her other hand to make sure Sam's thermos was tucked securely into her belt. _That ghost won't know what hit him._

Reassured, she leaned back against the tree, breathing deeply to calm her heart. Thundering around blindly would help nobody, least of all Phantom. All she could do now was wait.

It was probably only a few minutes that she stood there straining her ears for a hint of either ghost, though to her taut mind it felt like hours. Finally, Vlad spoke.

"If you think I'm going to sit here waiting for you to stop hiding like a coward, you're sadly mistaken."

Maddie jolted at the sound, and she raised herself slowly from the crouch she had settled into. The voice had come from off to her left somewhere. Picking a path carefully through the trees, she followed it.

"I don't need to defeat you here. All I need are certain people in my control to make you come to me. You're quite predictable that way."

Bright lights lit the woods in front of her and she ran towards the sound of breaking branches, but by the time she got there, the scuffle was over, and both ghosts had vanished once more. Her frustration was short-lived, however, as Vlad spoke again, this time forward and to her right.

"Maddie will be mine, of course. She was always mine, though she never knew it." Maddie's eyes narrowed. She didn't need to see his face to imagine the obsessive light gleaming in his eyes. "Yes, she will be much better off with me than she ever was with that oaf, Jack. In time, she won't even mourn his death."

Green light flashed through the branches once more, followed by the dull _thud_ of falling trees, and Maddie stopped, frustrated. This was pointless. Why was she so determined to help Phantom, anyway? He could take care of himself like he always had, and she had her own family to worry about. What did he need her for?

Uninvited, the memory of Phantom trapped and screaming in Skulker's net resurfaced, and she sighed.

 _I'll bring him out of this alive, but then we're even,_ Maddie thought, not noticing the oddity in her choice of words.

Vlad was speaking once more. She followed.

"As for the others… well, their fates will be up to you. I would like to keep them alive—incentive for good behavior, you understand—but I don't need them all to ensure your cooperation. However, I'm not unreasonable. Join me now, and nobody will have to die."

More green bursts erupted in the distance. Vlad let out another grunt of pain, but didn't strike back, though his next words were sharp.

"Fine!" he snapped. "If that's how you want it, I believe a preemptive lesson might be best after all. What about Jasmine? She has such a bright future ahead of her at Harvard, doesn't she? It would be a shame for that to… _die out_ … after all her hard work."

Maddie's felt her motherly protection instinct swell up in her chest. _Stay away from my daughter, you creep._ She needed another strategy. If she could only track these ghosts—

 _Duh_. Maddie almost smacked herself, but instead scrambled through her pockets, pulling out the Fenton Finder. She didn't dare leave the volume on, but the small screen would show her the location of the two ghosts anyway. Flipping it on, she saw two dots circling each other a fair distance ahead of her, moving deeper into the woods. Green flashes lit up the woods ahead of her, and she ran forward towards the sound of faint voices.

"Perhaps you would like me to destroy that techno geek who follows you everywhere? Or maybe your 'cousin,' Danielle? I've been meaning to take care of that little mistake for over a year now." More green light, closer now, and still Vlad didn't strike back. Maddie panted, speeding up. She was almost there.

"Your attacks are getting sloppy, son," Vlad commented with dark amusement, his voice growing stronger. "Have I struck a nerve? Don't worry, I think I know exactly who to choose. That goth girl has always been an awful influence on you. I almost took care of her earlier, but I think it might be best for both of us if she was out of the picture… completely."

Phantom roared wordlessly, letting loose another barrage of shots, and this time Vlad reacted quickly. Crackling pink arched out, hitting its mark, and Phantom screamed. Maddie realized suddenly that it must have been Vlad's plan all along to rile Phantom up enough like this, clouding his judgment with enough anger that he left himself open for attack. The prolonged sound of agony reverberating through the trees made her wince. _I'm coming!_

Eventually, the lightning dissipated, and Phantom's screams devolved into hoarse pants. A gap opened up in the trees ahead of her, and finally Maddie saw them: Phantom sprawled across the grass, chest heaving, while Vlad smirked, floating above him.

"Why," Phantom panted. "Why c-can't you just… leave them alone. Why can't you leave… _me_ alone?"

"Oh Daniel. My little badger." Vlad sounded almost fond. "You bring this upon yourself. Haven't you realized yet that by choosing to play the hero, you put those around you in danger? You're so filled with misguided morals and your _righteous_ desire to protect others that you're blind to the fact that your actions cause more harm than good."

"I… n-no—"

"Besides," Vlad overrode him smoothly, "do you expect me to simply ignore you when you are the only other person alive who shares our unique condition?"

Maddie, who had been lining up a shot with her ectoblaster, stopped in confusion. _Alive? Condition?_

Phantom stayed silent, which Vlad took as an invitation to continue.

"You of all people should understand the power obsessions can hold over us. How could you expect me to leave you be, once I discovered that I wasn't alone in my twisted form of existence? And to learn that you were the son of my beloved… You can understand, I'm sure, why I simply must have you by my side. What I _wish_ you would wrap your mind around is the fact that joining me is the best thing you could do for yourself!"

Vlad was pacing through the air now, jabbing with his hands every now and then for emphasis, but Maddie was distracted by Phantom, who was reaching surreptitiously for something in his belt. She glanced quickly back at Vlad. The blue-skinned ghost hadn't noticed yet.

"I can teach you so much, Daniel! There's no need for you to suffer as I did, barely able to control your emerging powers. And as an adolescent, no less! By the time I'm through with you, you will be—what are you doing?"

Phantom had finally managed to pull out a thermos identical to the one in Maddie's belt, and was fumbling with the lid when a short blast from Vlad sent the device flying. Yelping, Phantom dived after it, but Vlad swooped down, snatching the thermos out of the younger ghost's fingers. Ignoring his feeble attempts to get it back, Vlad surveyed the device in disgust.

"Is this really the best you could come up with, Daniel?" he asked. Phantom glared daggers at him, but didn't respond. "Have you even listened to a word I've been saying?"

"What, your standard 'join me' speech?" Phantom asked spitefully. "I thought about listening, but then I remembered that I have it memorized. Would you like me to recite it for you?"

"As always, your wit is adorable." Vlad paused, considering the thermos in his hands once more, and an evil glint appeared in his eye. "I know. I'll capture _you_ in this device you intended for me. That will keep you out of the way, leaving me with all the time in the world to hunt down your family and friends. They can't stay under the ghost shield forever, after all. Jack and Maddie especially are sure to come out when they realize their _precious son_ is missing."

Phantom's eyes widened as Maddie's narrowed. She'd had enough of this ghost creep threatening her children.

"Drop the thermos, ghost!" she shouted, charging up the ectogun with a whirr and blasting him in the chest. Unprepared, Vlad was sent flying back, the thermos falling from loose fingers.

Phantom whipped around to stare at her. "Maddie! What are you doing here? I thought you were safe!"

"Thank me later, ghost boy," she said dryly, kicking the fallen thermos towards him as she ran past. "This ghost isn't beaten yet."

Phantom caught the thermos, blinking, but she ignored him. All her attention was on Vlad, who was slowly picking himself off the ground.

"Maddie!" he cried pleasantly, dusting himself off as if she wasn't aiming an enormous ectogun at him at point-blank range. "Well, isn't this a lovely little family reunion?"

"I don't know what you mean," Maddie said, shooting again, but Vlad only laughed, turning intangible, and the shot went harmlessly through.

"Of course, I only include yourself and Daniel in that statement—for now, at least."

"Vlad!" Phantom hissed. Maddie glanced back to see Phantom shaking his head furiously. "What are you doing?"

"Honestly, Daniel, how much longer do you expect to keep it a secret? She's almost figured it out herself already. If we're going to be a family together, she needs to know _everything_ you've been hiding from her all this time, and I intend for her to find out today. Would you like to show her, or should I do the honors?"

"Show her… no way," Phantom said, wide-eyed. "You're joking."

Vlad chuckled darkly. "I'm afraid not. I don't know if you've noticed, but funny, joke-around Vlad has been absent all day. You show her, or I will."

"Show me what?" Maddie asked, weapon almost forgotten in the excitement of possible new information, but the two ghosts ignored her.

"I thought you didn't want her to find out! Do you really expect her to accept you like that?"

"She won't have a choice," Vlad said ominously. "I'll make her accept me, eventually. What about you? You were once so certain that she and Jack would accept you unconditionally. Has something changed?"

"Nothing's changed," Phantom ground out, and Vlad smirked at him.

"Then prove it. Go ahead and transform, or I promise you, I will."

"Transform into what? Phantom, what is he talking about?" Maddie demanded. Phantom looked from her to Vlad.

"I can't…"

"Very well, then," Vlad said, and to Maddie's confusion black rings formed around the his torso.

The sight spurred Phantom into action.

"Stop!" he yelled desperately, forgetting the thermos in his hands as he threw himself at the older ghost, punching him across the face. Vlad grunted in surprise, black rings disappearing.

"Get off me, boy!"

But Phantom was beyond reason. For a moment, all Vlad could do was defend while Phantom punched and kicked with a fury that showed he'd forgotten all about his ghost powers. Maddie hovered anxiously, pointing her weapon into the fray, though there was little she could do with the two so close together.

"That is _my_ secret to tell," Phantom growled furiously. "You don't get to!"

"You forget that it's mine as well," Vlad replied, just as angry. "The sooner she knows, the sooner she will begin to accept _both_ of us."

"Things are fine just the way they are!" Phantom reared his fist back for another punch, but Vlad, who had finally gotten over his shock enough to remember his own ghost powers, turned intangible. Balance lost, Phantom stumbled to the ground, and Vlad took advantage of his vulnerable state to steal back the thermos.

"I'll deal with you later, Daniel," he said, uncapping the lid and pointing it at Phantom. "Don't forget that by the time I let you out of here, your life and everything you love will belong to _me_."

"What? Wait—Vlad, DON'T!" Phantom screamed as blue light shot out of the thermos, pulling him inexorably in. "Don't you _dare_ hurt—Maddie, don't let him—!" His voice cut off abruptly as the light disappeared and Vlad replaced the cap.

"This is what you get when you defy me," he growled, shaking the thermos violently. "Remember that." Then, as if suddenly remembering Maddie's presence, he turned towards her, smoothing his hair with a gloved hand. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Maddie. I promise you that within no time at all I'll have the boys behavioral flaws ironed out. I'm afraid he's had a bad paternal influence over the years. There will be no need for that," he added, gesturing to the ectoblaster that she had yet to lower.

"Won't there?" Maddie asked. "Because it sounds to me like you're planning on killing my husband and kidnapping my children!"

"What an ugly way to put it," Vlad sighed. "However, I suppose you are essentially correct. I'm afraid I simply cannot relent on the issue of Jack, but if you come with me peacefully, I promise your children will be safe."

His fanged smile wasn't very reassuring.

"I'm afraid _I_ can't relent on the issue of Jack, either," Maddie said, raising her gun, and Vlad frowned.

"I didn't want to have to do this…"

Pink electricity shot towards her, and she yelped as it struck her hand. Reflexively, she dropped the gun, cradling her injured limb.

"We're both adults here, Maddie," Vlad said, approaching her. "Surely after everything you've heard, you're dying to know what makes Phantom and I so different from every other ghost you've ever met."

Maddie froze, and Vlad grinned knowingly at her.

"You'll never get it out of Daniel," he continued. "After all these years of keeping it a secret, it's become part of his identity. I believe he even views himself as some sort of silly, comic-book superhero because of it. I, however, am more than willing to talk. Perhaps we can make an exchange? My information for your cooperation. Either way, I have the upperhand."

Her heart pounded. He was right, except…

"I do want to know," she said slowly, "about you and Phantom. About everything." Vlad's grin widened, and he floated towards her, but she shook her head, stepping back. "Wait. I'll come with you, but first I have to ask… what is _that?_ "

Frowning, she raised her hand to point, and Vlad turned his head to see what she was staring at. That was all it took. Moving fast despite her still aching hand, Maddie grabbed the thermos behind her belt that had escaped Vlad's notice. By the time he turned back around, she had unscrewed the cap, catching him in its beam of light.

"What are you—WHAT!" he exclaimed as blue light engulfed him. "You betrayed me! Maddie, how could you? I lov—"

"I want to know what makes _Phantom_ so different," Maddie said angrily, replacing the lid as Vlad's voice died off. _You're_ exactly the same as every other ghost I've ever met."

For a moment, a resounding silence filled the woods. Then everything that had just happened hit her, and she put her hand against a tree to steady herself. _He wanted to…_ Shivering, she forced her gaze away from the thermos in her hand. She wasn't sure what to do with it, but she didn't want to do anything with it anytime soon. Brushing herself off, she forced herself to stand, tucking Vlad's thermos behind her belt. Then her eyes fell on the second thermos lying in the grass where Vlad had stood moments ago.

_Phantom._

Maddie hesitated before walking over to pick it up. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she thought she could feel slight tremors running through the device. For a brief second, she entertained the thought of taking him home like this—with Phantom already captured, it would eliminate the need for Jack's net. Then another almost-tremor shook the thermos, and she sighed. Not even for her curiosity's sake could she justify leaving him in there even a minute longer than necessary, enduring whatever mental torment his uncertainty was putting him through. Opening the cap, she found and pressed the release button, sending Phantom shooting out in a burst of light. He floated disoriented for a moment before his eyes cleared and his face twisted in rage.

"Vlad!" he roared, whirling around with an ectoblast ready to fire. Stumbling back in surprise, Maddie braced herself for the attack, but it never came. Phantom stopped short, letting the energy dissipate.

"You! But I thought—Vlad—"

Wordlessly she gestured to the thermos at her belt, and his confusion melted into awe.

"You did it! You're all safe!" And without warning, he engulfed her in a tight hug.

Maddie froze, stunned, trapped in his cold embrace. Her body didn't know how to react. Why had Phantom come to her of all people for comfort? Was it simply because she was the only one available? His shoulders shook, and she raised an arm to pat him awkwardly on the back. Noticing her obvious unease, Phantom pulled back a little.

"Mom? What's wr—" His eyes widened, and he jumped back. "Oh! Oh crap. I'm so sorry!"

"It's… okay," Maddie said hesitantly, and Phantom looked even more uncomfortable.

"No, seriously. I didn't mean—it's just, you remind me of my—that is—"

Maddie smiled a little at his discomfort. So she reminded him of his mom, did she? That was oddly touching, though as she looked over Phantom and remembered the events of the past day, she found the feeling was short-lived.

"You've been spending time with my children and their friends," she accused, and he flinched. "You put them all in danger because of it! Why?"

Phantom squirmed. "I didn't mean to. We're just friends…"

"Friends," Maddie repeated. "And how did that happen, exactly?"

"Um." Phantom scratched the back of his neck guiltily in a strangely familiar gesture. "Well, I was up at the school, and—"

"So you spend your time haunting the high school, do you?" Maddie interrupted him. "Trying to endanger more innocent lives?"

"No," Phantom said indignantly. "I was _protecting_ them from another ghost."

"A ghost that was probably looking for you!" Maddie exploded. She didn't know where this rush of anger had come from, but she couldn't reign it in. She wasn't even sure that she should. "Half of those ghosts come looking for you, and other people get caught in the crossfire. Your presence in this town hurts more people than it helps!"

Real anger flashed across his eyes, and belatedly she realized how close her words were to what Vlad had said earlier.

"Hey, I'm not the one who let the ghosts out," he said heatedly. "You're the one who built the portal in the first place. None of those ghosts would be getting through if it weren't for you. I'm just doing my best to keep the whole town from being overrun!"

"As if you're not once of the ghosts overrunning Amity Park in the first place," she retorted. "And what about when your best isn't enough? What if I hadn't been there to help you today? My husband could have died! _Sam_ could have died, because of you!"

Phantom flinched as if she'd dealt him a physical blow.

"I… I know," he said hoarsely. "I know."

Just like that, her raging anger evaporated, leaving a hollow pit in her stomach. Uncomfortably, she looked up at Phantom, who was staring dully at the ground. Maybe he was just a ghost, but the broken exhaustion in his posture was too human for comfort.

"Phantom," she sighed. "I didn't mean—"

"No, you're right," he said. "Nothing I do is enough. As hard as I try, nothing I do is ever enough. But I have to try, right?" He stared at her pleadingly. "I have to have these abilities for a reason, right? What else am I supposed to do?"

"Can't you go home?" she asked softly, and he shook his head with a humorless laugh.

"I don't think so. I'm not even sure where that is anymore."

Maddie didn't know how to respond to that. They stood together in silence for a moment, until Phantom broke it with a yawn.

"Look, I'll—I'll stay away from your kids, as much as I can. And my—their friends. Maybe you should keep that," he added, gesturing to the thermos at her belt. "For now, at least. I'm not really sure what to do with him yet, anyway." Another yawn split his mouth, and white rings snapped into existence around his waist. His eyes popped open, and he forced them back, suddenly alert. "Oh, crap! I have to go, Maddie. See you later!"

"Wait!" she shouted, but he was already gone, racing through the trees away from her. She still had a million and one questions for him, but she supposed that now wasn't the best time to ask them, anyway. "Until next time, then."

Stretching, she slowly started the long trek out of the woods, her mind going back to the fallen video camera that should be somewhere near her old hiding spot. She might not have been able to talk to Phantom like she wanted to, and she probably couldn't count on him returning to the park, either, but at least she could maybe find out what had happened while she was overshadowed. With any luck, that information would bring her one step closer to unraveling the mystery of Danny Phantom.

* * *

"I don't understand," Maddie whispered.

Midnight had come and gone hours ago, leaving the house in darkness. Maddie, who sat alone in the lab at her computer, barely noticed its passing. Over and over, she replayed the footage she'd collected that week, occasionally freezing the image on the screen to print off a hard copy. The walls around her were papered with such images—Phantom's face stared down at her from all angles, surrounding her. If it didn't sound so cliché, she would have said he was haunting her. When had something that had started out as scientific curiosity turned into full-blown obsession?

 _Go to sleep, Maddie_ , she told herself. _Your brain is tired and overworked. You'll never figure anything out like this._

But her mind refused to rest.

She should have been exhausted, and physically she was. After walking wearily back through the woods and retrieving her camera (which had thankfully remained on, though the lens had been buried in dirt), Maddie had finally made it to her parking spot only to remember that Tucker and Sam had taken the RV, leaving her with no choice but to make the journey home on foot. Thirty minutes later, everything had become a whirl of tracking people down and making sure they were okay. Danny had been found sound asleep on the couch, and a frantic call to Jazz's cell phone revealed that she had been in the library all afternoon. Tucker and Sam had made it back okay, and Jack had spent all day down in the lab perfecting his net, so in the end… everyone was safe. Sam had been a little worse for wear, but all she really needed was bed rest, which Maddie sternly ordered her to get after lecturing her, Tucker and a barely-awake Danny on the dangers of befriending ghosts.

It wasn't until later that night that she'd had the chance to sit down and analyze her video footage. Or at least, she'd been able to listen to the audio portion, though video feed was practically nonexistent because of how the camera had landed. She had expected there to be something enlightening in the tape. A hint, a clue, _something_.

Maybe she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up.

Frowning, she opened the file for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. It wasn't that the recording was completely useless. It was just, like everything else she'd managed to overhear this week, confusing. For instance, why had Phantom referred to her several times as "mom?" Sure, he had slipped up earlier when she'd let him out of the thermos, but Maddie had chalked that up to emotional distress, and his embarrassment at the incident indicated that he knew she wasn't his actual mother. Here, he acted as if "mom" was the natural thing to call her, and that because of her possessed state it hadn't been necessary to restrain himself as usual. Was her resemblance to the dead boy's mother really that extreme? And if so, was it a physical resemblance or some aspect of her personality that had caused him to impose that title on her? It _was_ interesting that Sam and Tucker never mentioned anything, or bothered to correct him. Maybe they just thought it was part of the weirdness that came with befriending ghosts?

And then there was that other thing…

Automatically, she skipped forward to the section of tape that had her the most puzzled and pressed play. Phantom's voice filled the lab, a little scratchy but clear enough to understand.

" _No more games, cheesehead. We've got you surrounded, and as long as this shield is up it's gonna stay that way. Now get out of my mom before I force you out!"_

" _Oh no!"_ Maddie winced at the sound of her own voice. It was somewhat disturbing to hear Vlad's words and intonations coming from her mouth. _"Danny Phantom and his pathetic human sidekicks have trapped me! Whatever shall I do?"_

" _Hey!"_ That was Sam. _"We might just be humans, but we're humans with really big guns!"_

" _Don't feed the trolls, Sam,"_ Tucker said.

" _What?"_

"… _Never mind."_

" _Look, just get out of my mom and leave, and we can call a truce. Don't you realize—"_

" _That this changes everything?_ " Vlad interrupted. _"Of course I do, dear boy, but why on earth would I want things to stay the same? The very nature of this game has changed, Daniel, and this time you have no chance of winning. Do you want to know why?"_

" _Not really."_

" _It's because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to have you and Maddie at my side, and you don't have the strength to do what it takes to stop me."_

" _Knock it off, Vlad!"_ For all his defensiveness, Phantom sounded uncomfortable. _"You're being even more of a fruit loop than usual. I don't wanna have to… you know..."_

" _Kill me? I know. And that's how I know I'll win."_

" _Hey, leave him alone!"_ Sam said, and Maddie heard the unmistakable whirr of an ectoblaster as a shot was fired. _"If he can't do it, then I will!"_

" _Sam, what are you doing?"_

" _Fighting back! I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself just to save this nutcase!"_

" _Oh, this is rich!"_ Vlad chuckled. _"Are you really going to let your girlfriend fight your battles for you?"_

" _She's not my—"_

" _Now's not the time, Danny!"_

More shots were fired, all of which must have missed because Maddie heard Vlad speak in her voice again.

" _Please, girl, you're wasting my time. Now that I think of it, this would be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how serious I am."_

A crackling sound emitted from the speakers, followed by Sam's ear-splitting shriek, which was abruptly cut short.

" _Sam!"_ Phantom screamed, while Tucker yelled out in shock. _"Sam, are you all right? Come on, open your eyes!"_

" _Oh,_ no. _"_ Vlad's voice was mocking. _"I didn't hit her too hard, did I?"_

" _VLAD!"_ Phantom roared. _"That's it. You want a fight? Fine! Let's see if_ this _shows you how serious_ I _am!"_

Maddie heard her own screams morph into Vlad's and slowly fade away as another shot was fired, this one hitting true.

" _That's one duplicate down,"_ Tucker said grimly. _"Here, let me take care of Sam. Will that shield hold for much longer?"_

" _Long enough, I think."_ Maddie heard herself groan, interrupting their conversation. _"I think my mom's coming around. I'm gonna see if she'll get you guys to safety while I deal with Vlad."_ Then, in a voice so quiet she'd had to enhance the audio several times and turn up the volume just to make the words out, he muttered, " _Figures that the only other half ghost in the world would be an evil nutcase."_

Maddie pressed pause.

Half ghost _._ _What did he mean by that?_

She couldn't shake the feeling that that little phrase held something important, perhaps even the key to everything she wanted to know. It had to be significant if it was the reason for Vlad's apparent obsession with Phantom, as well as the shared trait connecting him and Phantom... but she had no idea what it meant.

The problem was that Maddie had yet to figure out how Vlad and Phantom were similar at all. The very phrase "half ghost" indicated a distinction from regular ghosts, but how were they different? Well, she knew how _Phantom_ was different. His behavior barely registered as ghost-like at all. Vlad, on the other hand, was cruel, obsessive, violent—textbook ghost as far as she had always understood it. Yet the two obviously believed that there was something shared between them that set them apart from all other ghosts—or at least, almost all other ghosts…

Which brought her to Danielle. Danielle, being Phantom's clone, would also be "half ghost" like Phantom. The similarities between those two were easier to pick out—the hair, the eyes, the personality—but that obviously wasn't what they were all referring to.

A thought occurred to her. If she were to make a jump and assume that any similarities shared between Danielle and Vlad were also shared by Phantom…

Maddie's thoughts trailed off, and she stared absent-mindedly at a picture of Phantom as she struggled to put into words something that she still didn't quite understand. The fact was that there were… people, actual humans bearing striking similarities to Vlad and Danielle in name, interests, personality, acquaintances… to a certain extent, even in looks. Maddie wasn't sure _how_ such a connection had been formed, but it was undeniably there. Vlad Masters, for instance, had to be connected somehow to Vlad "The Wisconsin Ghost." They spoke the same, almost sounded the same… they both disliked Jack, and had an unhealthy fixation on her…

Danielle she didn't know as well, but both ghost and girl seemed to think they had some relationship with Danny's friend, Tucker. In the girl's case, at least, this was probably true, but what did that mean for the ghost?

 _Back up,_ Maddie thought, closing her eyes in order to concentrate. _This doesn't matter for now. What really matters is how those connections were formed._

Phantom had once said that his and Danielle's conditions were both "the result of lab experiments, to some extent or another." For Danielle that made sense, but for Phantom it had interesting connotations—whatever he was, it wasn't natural. She knew he had DNA where other ghosts had none, and was apparently only half ghost…

_Half ghost… so what's the other half?_

Maddie's eyes flew open as an idea hit her. What if somebody had managed to insert _human DNA_ into ghosts? That could change their physical makeup, even alter their personalities… make them half ghost. Of course!

She stood up, pacing as she thought. This made sense. It could even explain the similarities these ghosts had with specific humans! What if the Wisconsin Ghost had been combined with DNA from Vlad Masters? Vlad had been involved in ghostly research at one point in time—could he have performed the experiment himself? Or had it been an outside group like the GIW? Either way, Maddie was absolutely convinced now that she'd stumbled on something important. The Wisconsin Ghost must have received DNA from Masters, and Danielle—

Maddie paused. Danielle was a snag in her theory. If Danielle Phantom was really a clone of Danny Phantom, how could she have received DNA from Tucker's girlfriend? And even if the two Danielles shared genetic material, why would both of them assume a relationship with Tucker Foley?

She frowned, frustrated again. Okay, so maybe her theory wasn't perfect, but that didn't mean she was ready to give up just yet. There was just one last piece of vital information missing from the equation, the key that would unlock this mystery once and for all. The answer was _so close_ … but it felt as far away as it had ever been. She had no more leads, the likelihood of Phantom returning to the park was slim at best, and—she realized with a start—she still hadn't figured out who Phantom's human connection was.

"Mom?"

Jerked out of her musings, Maddie whirled around.

"Danny? What are you doing up so…" Maddie's eyebrows raised as she glanced at the clock, finally realizing what time it was. "…Early? Are you feeling okay?"

Still in his pajamas, Danny stumbled down the stairs, rubbing his eyes.

"Thought I heard noises," he mumbled. "Decided to… investigate…" Yawning widely, he looked down at her with bleary eyes. "What're you doing up so early?" His gaze sharpened as he got a better look at the lab. "What's all this?"

"All what?" she asked, glancing around. "Oh, the pictures? They're just part of some research I've been doing. It's nothing for you to worry about. Go back to bed, sweetie..."

But Danny had stopped listening. Wide-eyed, he walked past her, staring at Phantom's pictures on the wall. Stopping in front of an image of Danielle and Phantom at the park, he gasped softly.

"This…" he breathed. "This is… did you take this?"

"Yes," Maddie said slowly. "I've been studying him all week. Danny—"

"You were there?" Danny interrupted her. "All week? Where were you?"

Maddie shrugged. "Hiding in some bushes. I tracked him to the park on Monday using the Fenton Finder and he kept coming back to that spot, so I decided to observe him."

"The Fenton Finder. Of course," he muttered. "So you were there when… wait, so that's why Vlad said—"

Cutting off sharply, he gave her a wary look. Then, with obviously forced casualness he said, "So, what did you… learn?"

"About Phantom?" She studied her son sharply for a moment, then sighed. "Not much. He's such a fascinating case-study, though. Do you know what he was doing the first day I saw him?"

"…No, what?"

" _Reading."_ It still amazed her. "Frankenstein. I'd always wondered what he did in his spare time, you know, but that was nothing like what I expected. I was going to shoot him when I found him, but after I saw that… I just couldn't. I had to find out _why_. So I studied him."

"And what did you think?"

Maddie looked over, surprised by the intensity of his voice. To be honest, her son rarely took anything seriously—he was a teenage boy, after all. He looked serious now, though.

"About what?" she asked.

"About him." He gestured carelessly with one hand, still focused on Maddie. "About Phantom. What do you think about him as a person?"

It was an interesting question, and Maddie took a moment to consider it before responding.

"I think… he's not what I thought he was," she said slowly. "He's unlike any ghost I've ever met, as if he managed to maintain some element of his humanity when he died. Strange as it seems, I think he actually has this town's best interests at heart."

"So… does that mean you're not going to shoot at him anymore?"

Danny sounded so hopeful that Maddie had to smile.

"You're friends with him." It was more of a statement than a question. "I already know that Sam and Tucker are, and Jazz has been trying to psychoanalyze him. It would be a stretch to think you weren't involved too in some way."

"I guess it's something like that," Danny relented finally, and Maddie sighed.

"I won't shoot at him anymore, but I need you to cut him off, and for heaven's sake, stop giving him our inventions! It's too dangerous, especially after what happened today…"

Her eyes moved automatically to the thermos that was sitting on a counter across the room, and Danny's eyes followed.

"Is that Vlad?" he asked quietly, and Maddie nodded with distaste.

"I'm still not sure what to do with him. I think I might try to interrogate him at some point, but only when I'm sure we have him completely restrained."

"Hmm." Danny bit his lip, and Maddie was sure he was dying to say something, but in the end all he said was, "Sounds good, I guess." His eyes moved to a silver, gun-shaped device sitting next to the thermos, and his eyebrows quirked down. "What's that thing?"

"Hmm? Oh, that!" To be honest, she'd been trying hard not to think about it. "That's your dad's newest invention. He calls it the Fenton Phantom Grabber."

"Heh, nice," Danny smirked. "What's it do?"

Maddie hesitated, but decided it wouldn't hurt to tell him now. "It's a net specifically designed to catch Phantom. The fibers are phase-proof, resistant to his specific type of ectoplasm, and can withstand temperatures well below freezing. In theory, inescapable."

Danny's smirk slid off his face

"A net," he repeated blankly.

Maddie nodded, too tired to notice her son's closed-off expression. A wave of exhaustion hit her as she remembered everything she'd been thinking over before Danny came down. She might have learned a lot this week, but there was still so much she didn't know, and the only way to figure everything out might be for Phantom to tell her himself. Logically, she should use the net, but that didn't make her feel any less uneasy about it.

"Are you going to use it?" Danny asked, mirroring her thoughts, and she bit her lip.

"Maybe. Probably." No need to let Danny in on her moral dilemma. "Through all my observations, I still haven't figured out what makes him so unique. I'm hoping I can get him to tell me." It occurred to her suddenly that maybe she should ask Danny. He had spent time with Phantom—maybe the ghost had confided in him.

"So that's it?" Danny demanded, and Maddie's eyebrows rose at the sudden burst of anger. "Even after realizing he's not the bad guy, you still see nothing wrong with throwing him in a net? So I guess shooting people is wrong, but kidnapping them is totally fine, is that it? What are you going to do with him once you have him? Dissect him, maybe? Take him apart piece by piece?"

"Danny, enough," Maddie cut him off sharply. "I know you think he's your friend, but Phantom is still a ghost."

"Right. He's just a ghost." There was a surprising amount of bitterness in his tone. "I guess that justifies everything, doesn't it?"

"Listen," Maddie said, smacking the countertop for emphasis. "Phantom is a spectral being entirely different from everything else we've ever encountered! He _needs_ to be studied and explained."

"But _why?"_ Danny raised his arms in frustration. "What if he doesn't _want_ to be studied? Why can't you just leave him alone?"

Maddie opened her mouth to respond—and froze as her world came to a screeching halt. Danny was glaring at her, eyes flashing angrily, and it was only for a tiny second, really, and it was probably just a trick of the light, a reflection from a glowing vial of ectoplasm or… but she knew. It was only for a second, but she knew. How could she not know, when she had been staring at those eyes all night long?

" _Phantom."_

Maddie didn't realize she'd spoken out loud until the color drained out of Danny's face.

"What?" he croaked, pausing to clear his throat and shifting anxiously under her shocked gaze. "Umm… what about him?"

"Your eyes," Maddie mumbled. If possible, Danny looked even more nervous.

"Oh! Yeah, that was probably just the light. It's, uh, really green in here."

Maddie nodded numbly, not questioning his explanation, and he relaxed a little.

"Are you tired? I'm tired," he announced abruptly. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow morning. You know, probably. Um. Good night, mom."

With that he was sprinting up the stairs, though Maddie barely noticed his exit.

It was impossible… and yet, her mind was already supplying her with reasons that it was not only possible, but probable. Phantom cared for her and her family. Phantom was friends with Sam and Tucker. Phantom called her "mom." Danny Fenton… Danny Phantom… how had it taken her so long to see?

Her own son was Phantom's human connection.


	6. Chapter 6

Maddie knew there was no chance of Phantom returning to the park today.

She went anyway.

Skipping over her usual hiding place, Maddie sat herself down in the middle of the clearing where she'd first seen Phantom reading a book on a lazy Monday afternoon. The amount of action this park had seen since then was incredible. The burnt and splintered trees, lit now with an eerie orange glow from the sinking sun, stood almost as a testament to all that had happened here this week. Maddie tried her hardest to ignore them.

Time had passed in strange ways today—it was hard to believe that the sun was already that low on the horizon. School must have let out hours ago. She'd have to return home soon to start on dinner, though even that small task seemed impossible tonight. Maybe she could order a pizza? Either way, she didn't have to go home just yet. Jazz would be fine on her own for awhile, and Danny…

Maddie curled herself into a ball, resting her weary head against her knees.

The discovery she had made the night before should have possibly spurred her to even greater efforts in unraveling the mystery of Phantom. Her _family_ was involved now, in ways she couldn't have previously imagined. What greater motivation could a mother have? She should have redoubled her efforts to find answers, tracked down Phantom, interrogated Vlad, pulled Danny out of school and asked him to please, _please_ talk to her… but she hadn't. Her previous passion had instead evaporated overnight, leaving her numb, passive, and utterly spent, save for a small, persistent feeling of guilt.

She had to be the worst mother in the world. What did it matter if she were to figure everything out now? All this time Danny—her baby boy, her _son_ , who at one point in his life had shared secrets and backwash with her—had kept from her the biggest secret of his life. Kids didn't tell their parents everything, she knew that. She'd had her fair share of secrets from her mom as a teenager. But something like _this_? His friends obviously knew, and Jazz, so why would he not confide in her?

The worst part of it was that she didn't even know what exactly he'd been through. Had he been operated or experimented on? Had he consented to the process, or been forced into it? All she had were theories, along with a horrible, growing certainty that whatever had happened to her son, Vlad Masters was the one to blame. Danny had always been openly hostile towards the man—she'd have had to be blind not to notice _that—_ but she'd always assumed it was for more obvious reasons, like Vlad's tendency to insult Jack and hit on her right in front of him. Now she realized that she should have paid more attention. Maybe then she would have noticed that there was something more sinister between Vlad and her son.

Then, of course, there was Phantom. Somehow, everything always came back to Phantom.

For the first time that day, tendrils of her former curiosity began to creep back as she wondered for the millionth time _what_ his relationship to Danny really was. Despite the friendship Phantom had formed with Danny's friends, she couldn't remember a single instance this week when Phantom had so much as mentioned her son. Of course, that was hardly conclusive—her observations had taken place over a relatively short period of time. Much stranger was the fact that, as hard as she tried, she still couldn't remember ever having seen the two together. Surely if she had, she would have picked up on the physical similarities before now. Maybe they had avoided being seen together for that specific reason—so nobody would notice how strangely similar they looked. Or… Maddie frowned as she reluctantly considered a second possibility. What if Phantom was overshadowing her son, possessing him and stealing away his life? It wasn't impossible. Earlier she might have even said it was probable, but now? Somehow, she couldn't believe it. She had seen too much of the good in Phantom to believe he was capable of that—although there were those acts of evil from his earlier days still left unexplained...

As always, guessing was getting her nowhere. She really only had one viable option now as far as she could see—talk to Danny.

It was going to happen eventually. They couldn't avoid seeing each other like this for much longer. Still, it hurt a bit to realize how much she dreaded that conversation with her son.

Footsteps padded softly in the grass behind Maddie, and her eyes snapped open at the sound. Immediately her thoughts strayed to Phantom, but then her brain caught up with her and she realized that Phantom wouldn't have audible footsteps.

"How long have you been out here?" a small, feminine voice asked. Maddie relaxed.

"Not long." She turned to find Jazz standing uncertainly behind her. "How did you know where I was?"

"Danny," she said simply. "That is—I mean, he didn't know you were here but he told me about last night, and I kind of guessed."

 _Of course_. Mouth thinning, Maddie turned back around. "Where is he now?"

"…Tucker's. He said he'd be back later tonight."

If she hadn't been listening for it, Maddie might have missed the slight hesitation that gave away the lie.

"So I suppose if I went to Tucker's right now, he'd be there?" she asked levelly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her daughter blush.

"Well, you know, they might have gone to the Nasty Burger, or a movie, or—you know what?" Jazz said, frustrated. "I'm done with this. It's obvious to me that he's going to have to tell you what's happening sooner rather than later, even if Danny still needs convincing."

"Couldn't you tell me?" Maddie asked. Jazz winced.

"I'd prefer that you didn't ask me to do that," she said. "Danny would never forgive me, and honestly? It'll be better coming from him. Besides, it will be a huge step in Danny's psychological growth when he finally brings himself to tell you."

Maddie's mouth quirked up a little at that last comment, but she didn't respond. After a moment, Jazz stepped forward, joining her mother on the ground.

"So what's on your mind?"

"Am I a terrible mother?" The words slipped out of Maddie before she could stop them. Jazz looked up in surprise.

"What? Of course not! Why would you think—"?

"Then why doesn't Danny trust me?" she asked pleadingly. "Doesn't he know he can come to me with anything?"

"Trust… isn't the issue," Jazz said hesitantly, and Maddie sighed.

"Then what is? Have I been too inaccessible? Too distracted by ghosts? I had my reservations about working while you two were little, but Jack couldn't get those government grants on his own, and I thought that at least I'd always be home, even if I was down in the lab—" Maddie cut off, not sure what else to say and already feeling that she'd said too much. "I just feel like our family is splintering apart, and I don't know what to do."

She hadn't intended for Jazz to hear all this. In her mind, moms were supposed to always be there to support their children, not the other way around. Then again, Jazz had never been an ordinary girl. One glance at her daughter's intensely concentrated face had Maddie smiling despite herself. She could almost see her daughter referencing textbooks in her mind like it was all some kind of psychology project. Come to think of it, she was probably relishing the role of therapist here.

"I think what you're feeling here is a common worry of working moms," Jazz said eventually. "They want to supply all their children's needs, but feel that by being absent, they're giving less of themselves. However, for the conscientious mom, those worries are often unfounded, and it helps that you work from home. You've always been available to us, both physically and mentally. Now, have you been easily distracted and obsessed with ghosts?" Jazz paused, which Maddie thought with amusement was rather polite of her—she'd heard Jazz's complaints on this subject often enough to know her daughter's opinion. "Maybe you have been, a little. How much have you been able to figure out, anyway? About Danny, that is."

Maddie laughed shortly. "Not much. Just that he and Phantom are… similar. Connected. As if Phantom were Danny's ghostly counterpart or something. I know that Phantom is the result of some experiment, but how did Danny get involved? And why wouldn't he tell me anything about it, when I'm an expert on ghosts?"

"Haven't you thought that maybe that's the problem?" Jazz asked. "You might be an expert on ghosts, but you're also a ghost _hunter._ He was probably worried about how you would react, and just trying to protect… Phantom." A tinkling piano song filled the air, and the two of them jerked in surprise, Jazz reaching automatically for her pocket. "Sorry, that's my phone. Let me see who it is."

Maddie considered this while Jazz fumbled with the small device. It made sense, and what's more, it made her feel the tiniest bit better because at least it was a reason she understood. She and Jack had been a bit zealous in their dislike of Phantom.

"Sorry, I'd better take this," Jazz said, flipping it open. "Hello? Sam, what's up?"

Curiously, Maddie looked over. She couldn't make out the tinny voice on the other end, but as they spoke, Jazz's expression became vaguely concerned. "Are you sure? I talked to him less than an hour ago, and he seemed fine. A little down, maybe, but—" Sam's response must have been angry, because Jazz raised a defensive hand. "Okay, okay! I believe you. No, I don't know what's going on." With a sideways glance at Maddie, she said, "Look, I can't talk right now. I'll call you back, okay? Yes, I'll tell you as soon as I talk to him. Don't worry, we'll knock some sense into him. Uh huh. Good-bye." With a small beep, she hung up.

"What's up?" Maddie asked, and Jazz shrugged.

"Sam and Tucker think Danny's been avoiding them today," she said, looking a little annoyed. "He does this sometimes. I think he's trying to keep everybody safe, or something stupid like that. As if cutting everybody off would do any good. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"But he wasn't even there yesterday," Maddie said, confused. "He was asleep. Why would any of it be his fault?"

Phantom had been there, though. Disturbed, Maddie remembered the ultimatum she'd given him yesterday afternoon, and Phantom's promise to avoid contact with Danny's human friends. That couldn't have anything to do with Danny's behavior now, could it?

"GHOST!"

A big orange blob came hurtling through the trees and crashing into an unsuspecting Jazz and Maddie before they could so much as scream. Maddie flailed around in panic, and for a moment, everything was a confused tangle of limbs, red hair and jumpsuits. Then she caught sight of a familiar face.

"Jack?"

" _Dad_?"

"Ghost boy!" Jack thundered, struggling to get up while recklessly brandishing his weapon. "Get your ectoplasmic tail back here so I can tear it apart molecule by molecule!"

Spitting out a mouthful of grass with a grimace, Jazz gave Maddie a questioning glance. Maddie shrugged apologetically.

"I haven't told him yet," she whispered, and Jazz nodded in understanding.

"Soon?" she mouthed.

Maddie nodded. Though she still hadn't figured out how to convince Jack that Phantom was, in fact, a "friendly ghost," that conversation would have to happen soon. But not now.

"Come on, Jack," Maddie said, offering a hand to pull him up and almost getting pulled down herself in the process. "Wherever he is, I'm sure he's long gone by now."

"I almost had him, Maddie," Jack said glumly. "I was this close! But he sped up as soon as we got to the park."

"Wait, you mean Phantom was here?" Maddie asked sharply, glancing around. "How recently?"

"Just a couple seconds ago. Hey!" he exclaimed, snapping his sausage-like fingers. "Now that you're here, we can find him together! And if we take Jazz with us we can count it as quality family time! Now if only Danny were here…"

"Actually, I think it's time for dinner," Maddie intervened. "We can go ghost hunting later, okay? Besides, it's gotten chilly all of a sudden," she added, shivering. Even through her jumpsuit, she could tell that the temperature must have dropped ten degrees.

Jazz gasped quietly, whipping her head around in confusion, but Maddie didn't notice.

"Aww, but Maddie…" Jack whined.

"How about we order some pizza tonight?" she said. "And once we get home, I'll get you a big plate of fudge."

The distraction worked.

"All right!" he cheered, running off. "Let's go!"

"Hold up, Jack!" Maddie called. "The Fenton RV's over here."

"You drove?"

"You _ran?"_

"I don't know. I was too busy running to notice. Hoo boy!" he grunted, falling to one knee as exhaustion chose that moment to hit him. "I'm gonna feel that in the morning!"

Maddie shook her head, smiling fondly at her husband's antics. "Don't worry, I'll drive. Are you coming, Jazz?"

Jazz, who was standing with her back to Maddie, seemed to be arguing with herself, but when she eventually turned around her answering smile was very self-satisfied.

"Coming!" she said cheerfully, almost skipping past Maddie with excitement. Confused, Maddie stared after her. Then an icy breath of air hit her ear, and she shivered.

"Meet me at nine p.m., on top of the Ops Center," a familiar, echoing voice murmured, and Maddie's head whipped around so fast that her neck cracked. The air beside her was empty. No one was there—or at least, nobody visible.

"Phantom?" she said softly, but there was no reply. Giving one last fruitless glance around her, Maddie raised an eyebrow at Jazz, who smiled blandly back at her.

"I suppose you put him up to that," Maddie said, joining into step with her daughter as they walked to the RV together.

"Thank me later," Jazz said. "It took a lot of work to get him to agree to this."

"Thank you," Maddie said honestly. "But I thought you wanted Danny to talk to me?"

"Oh, he'll be there too," Jazz said, winking mysteriously, and Maddie rolled her eyes as she climbed into the RV. Jazz was enjoying this way too much.

Jack was waiting for her in the passenger seat.

"Hey. So, uh, Maddie," he started, and Maddie looked over to find him looking extremely uncomfortable, glancing at her sideways with embarrassed concern. "You've been a little bit off today. Are you—well, is everything okay now?"

Maddie's heart warmed, even as she winced—she must have been really out of it today if even sweet, clueless Jack had noticed. Her husband might not be very good at the whole emotional comfort thing, and he might never remember the date of their anniversary, but his heart was in the right place. It was how she knew that when she finally presented her case to him about Phantom, he would eventually accept it.

"Yes, sweetie. I'm… okay now." And she was. Jazz's talk had helped, and with her upcoming meeting with Phantom, she had the feeling that the craziness of this week's ups and downs was finally coming to a conclusion.

"Good!" He looked immensely relieved. "Now let's go get some pizza!"

"We're ordering pizza?" Jazz asked from the back, sounding equally relieved. Maddie bristled a little—it wasn't like every meal she cooked came to life.

"Yep!" Jack said. "And it's gonna have pepperoni and sausage and bacon and…"

Maddie stopped paying attention as she noticed the weapon still clutched carelessly in Jack's fingers.

"Jack," she said as she started up the vehicle. "Why do you have the Fenton Phantom Grabber with you?"

"Because I was hunting Phantom," he said. _Duh._

Glancing back, Maddie saw that Jazz's attention was fully immersed in her cell phone. Still, she lowered her voice.

"Do you think I could borrow it for the night?" she asked. Her husband's shoulders sagged—he was always slightly possessive over his newest invention.

"I guess," he said reluctantly. "Why, do you think you'll need it?"

Maddie paused in thought for a moment, pulling away from the curb. When she eventually spoke, her voice was decisive.

"Yes. I think I'll be needing it really soon."

* * *

Five minutes to nine found Maddie pacing restlessly on top of the Ops Center, fiddling endlessly with the Fenton Phantom Grabber in her hands. She knew she was early, but she couldn't hold in the hope that maybe Phantom would show up early, too. Besides, she couldn't stand another minute of Jazz sending her those annoyingly knowing glances. She loved her daughter to death, of course, and she was grateful to her for setting up this little rendezvous, but she'd forgotten how… well, to be honest, how _irritating_ Jazz could be when she had a secret.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Phantom would come late, or even not show up at all. Jazz had said he didn't really want to come. And where was Danny?

Her pacing continued. Two minutes to nine.

"You're early."

Maddie stopped. Slowly, she let out her breath before turning around. Phantom was perched on the railing, looking up at the stars. The position reminded her of Danny, and she wondered briefly whether he had the same fascination for the night sky as her son did, but then he spoke again.

"I'm starting to think this was a mistake. I'm still not sure if I'll stay, all things considered." He glanced back at her, expression guarded. "You have about five seconds to explain that _thing_ you're holding, or I'm gone."

Maddie realized suddenly that Phantom's relaxed position was just an act. His muscles—or his ghostly equivalent thereof—were tensed and ready for action, and if she didn't do something quickly, he would be gone before she could stop him.

"Wait," she said, hurriedly tossing the device towards him. It skidded across the metal floor, coming to a stop near his feet. Phantom stared down at it, then up at her, confused.

"I wasn't going to use it," Maddie said hurriedly. "I'm giving it to you. Do whatever you want with it—break it, incinerate it, whatever. I just wanted you to know that we won't be hunting you anymore."

Phantom's mouth opened slightly in surprise.

"I was sure," he muttered, almost to himself, but then he shook his head with a smile, truly relaxing for the first time that night. "Never mind. Uh, thanks." He jerked his head towards the device on the floor. "For that. I never liked nets, you know. I mean, I guess there are worse things out there, and most nets are pretty easy to escape, but I always hated them the most."

"Why?" Maddie asked, walking slowly to join him. Phantom tensed, and she jerked in surprise. Looking sharply at each other for a moment, they slowly relaxed with rueful grins. They were both on edge tonight.

"I don't really know," he said, frowning in thought. "I guess, when enough people go after you with nets… I don't know, it makes you feel kind of like an animal. It's degrading, you know? I mean, people don't hunt people like that. It's…" He paused, searching for a word. "Dehumanizing. It's dehumanizing." He grinned. "Heh. I bet Lancer thought I wasn't even listening when he taught us that word."

"Lancer?" Maddie asked, vaguely recalling him using that name before. Phantom raised an eyebrow as if it were obvious.

"You know, Mr. Lancer? Teaches English, along with almost every other subject in the school?"

"You sit in on his classes?" Maddie asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah I—oh. Right." Phantom grimaced, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "Geez, I don't even know where to begin."

"Begin with my son," Maddie said quickly. Phantom glanced back at her, and she twitched a little, but went on. "I know you're connected. Closely, even. Just… just tell me what he's been through. Has he been hurt? Is he all right? Where is he? Jazz said he'd be here."

"Connected, huh?" he muttered. "I guess you could say that."

With a sudden, fluid motion he jumped in the air. Maddie let out a startled gasp, stepping back, but Phantom didn't go very far. Instead, he started pacing back and forth through the air, much as she had been doing earlier. He looked nervous.

"Look," he said abruptly, coming to a halt. "There's a lot to tell you, and even though I've kind of been planning this moment in the back of my mind for years, I'm not really sure how it's all gonna play out. So just… let me talk, okay? This is something I've been keeping secret for a long time, and it's gonna be hard to get it out. Danny… don't worry about him. He'll be here soon."

Maddie nodded slowly, and Phantom let out a long breath.

"Okay. So. It all started two years ago. I guess I should start by saying that I—we—Danny—" Phantom paused for a moment, then nodded. "Danny wanted to tell you everything when it first happened. He almost did, at first, but something always happened to interrupt, and… anyway, after a little while he started to get a handle on things, and he thought that maybe it would be easier if you _didn't_ know. He still thought that he could tell you if he needed to, but… I don't know, I guess he felt a little grown up keeping this a secret. Like some sort of super hero." Phantom smiled, shaking his head. "He was only fourteen, you know. Everything felt kind of like a game back then." His smile faded. "But then there was that whole mayor thing with Walker and his goons, and I became infamous. You started to recognize me when you saw me. And you hated me." He looked at her earnestly. "You have to understand. I've made mistakes—I've been manipulated, controlled, framed—but I've always tried to do the right thing. I never meant to hurt you, or anyone else. You _have_ to believe me."

"I believe you."

Maddie was almost surprised by her own response. Phantom shooting her, kidnapping the mayor, and stealing from all those jewelry stores… those were facts she'd held onto almost viciously as proof that Phantom was evil, even if he'd managed to trick the rest of the town into believing otherwise.

But now? She'd seen him when he thought no one was watching. She'd watched him love, cry, and fight to protect his friends and her family. And now that he was so close, staring at her so pleadingly with a face that, though blurred and distorted by his ghostly glow still reminded her so much of her son…

She believed him.

Phantom relaxed. "It was all an accident, you see." He gestured to himself. " _This_ was an accident. Danny didn't mean to split himself like this."

"Danny didn't… but wait," Maddie blurted out before she could stop herself. "You mean it wasn't Vlad?"

Phantom blinked. "Vlad?" He shook his head with a brief laugh. "No, that wasn't Vlad. I mean, he can be blamed for a lot of things, but not this. He comes later—or earlier." Phantom grimaced, shaking his head. "I'm not very good at this, am I? Vlad split himself over twenty years ago, when he was in college. He didn't even know about me until we met at that college reunion in Wisconsin."

"Vlad _Masters_ split himself in college?" Maddie repeated, and Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"You figured that out? Well, I guess it wasn't that hard. How many Vlads do we know, anyway?"

"But when did it happen? Vlad, Jack and I always did our research together…" Her voice faded off as it came to her. "The ghost portal?"

"Ecto acne wasn't the only symptom of having a ghost portal explode in his face," Phantom confirmed, making a face. "Glad that didn't happen to me, though. Yuck."

"But what about you? What about Danny?" Maddie frowned. "He never got caught in a ghost portal."

"Heh. About that." Phantom squirmed uncomfortably. "You know the ghost portal downstairs? You know how two years ago it didn't work?"

Of course she remembered _that_ moment. The excitement, the thrill of having finally created a portal to another dimension that should have, in theory, worked… only to have it fizzle and die, as their experiment became just another failure. That is, until—

"Danny fixed it," Maddie said. Eyes wide, she looked up at Phantom. "But he never told us how. What happened?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure it was ever broken," Phantom said. "From what I've been able to tell since then, there was some sort of double switch involved. Both switches needed to be on in order to activate the portal. One of those switches was outside the portal, and one of them… was inside." He grinned a little, though the expression was bitter. "In the future, I'd recommend turning on the inside one _first_."

Maddie's eyes widened with dread. "You don't mean…"

"My—Danny's friends were down in the lab, and Sam kind of dared him to go inside. He went in, tripped over some wires, fell against the switch, and…" Phantom spread his arms wide like some circus performer ending a trick. "Ta da."

It was a dark attempt at humor, and Maddie didn't laugh.

"How did he survive?" she asked in horror. "That much electricity—but then, the ectoplasmic residue might have affected the process," Maddie muttered to herself. "Changed the nature of the electric shock, making it non-fatal. Or partially fatal? Is such a thing even possible?"

Phantom shrugged. "You're the scientist, not me. Whatever happened… it hurt. A lot."

"You remember it?" Maddie asked, and Phantom nodded, scratching his neck.

"Umm… well, yeah. I haven't really told you the biggest part of all this. You see—"

"Wait," Maddie stopped him, wide-eyed. "I think I know what's going on."

"You do?" Phantom asked, his face an odd mixture of hope, relief, and dread.

"Of course!" Maddie jumped up and started pacing. "You have all of Danny's memories, don't you? When the portal turned on, all that electricity and the trauma of the moment imprinted the free ectoplasm floating around with Danny's consciousness. It's how most ghosts are formed… but because Danny wasn't dead, the imprint was much stronger than normal! In essence, part of his humanity was _transferred_ to you."

Phantom's face fell, but she didn't see it. "Uh, Maddie…"

"It's why you feel such a connection to Danny's friends and family. It's how you've been able to _maintain_ those connections. In your mind, it's as if you're actually Danny!"

"Maddie—"

"But that still doesn't explain Danielle, or—"

"Mom!"

Maddie stopped mid-sentence, turning to face him.

"I'm not your mom, Phantom," she said quietly. "Whatever you might think you remember, I'm not your mom."

"But that's the thing," Phantom said, his face twisted painfully. "I've been talking as if Danny and I are two separate beings. In reality… that's not the case."

Maddie stared at him. Her heartbeat was increasing rapidly, though she wasn't exactly sure why yet. "Where's Danny?" she asked again.

"I'm trying to tell you," Phantom said, pointing to himself. "He's right here."

"That's not possi—"

"Have you ever seen me and Danny together?" he persisted. "You were watching all this week—you've seen Danielle. If human and ghost Danielle are separate, how could they both be dating Tucker? How could human Danielle exist at all, if I was the one who was cloned?"

Maddie flinched as every hole in her theory was mercilessly exposed. "Of course I've considered all that," Maddie managed, "but just because I haven't found an explanation doesn't mean there isn't one."

"There _is_ an explanation. _Mine_."

"But you're a _ghost_ ," Maddie said, exasperated. "Danny's a _human_. I've seen him. Maybe you feel like you're Danny, but—"

"Look," he sighed reluctantly. "Maybe it would be easier to show you."

Maddie stopped short, reminded of Vlad and his attempts to "show her" something as well.

"Show me what?" she asked. It came out as a whisper.

"Don't hate me, okay?" he said, avoiding her gaze. Familiar white rings appeared around his waist, and with nothing to stop the process this time, they separated and traveled across his body. Maddie watched in fascination as Phantom transformed before her eyes, black and white jumpsuit disappearing to make way for worn jeans, a familiar white t-shirt, and red tennis shoes. As the last ring of light passed over his head and winked out of existence, white hair became black, and as he looked at her, she saw that glowing green had become brilliant blue.

For a moment, there was silence. He stepped forward, and then stopped with a wince as she automatically stepped back.

"Umm… ta da?" he said awkwardly, raising his arms.

Maddie didn't respond.

"Yeah, this is kind of what I've been keeping from you," he said, scratching his neck. "I… probably should have told you sooner. Sorry."

Still, she said nothing.

"Um, could you maybe say something? Please?"

"Wait," Maddie said slowly. "You're telling that I have _Vlad Masters_ trapped in a thermos downstairs?"

Danny blinked incredulously, his expression morphing into indignant anger.

"Are you kidding me?" he yelled. "All that, and you're gonna ask about _Vlad_ freaking _Masters?_ Forget it, this is stupid. I'm out of—"

He cut off with a gasp as Maddie encased him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, Danny," she said. "All this time… that was you? With Danielle and Skulker and—Danny you could have died! Wait, Danielle? That doesn't mean—Vlad _didn't_ clone you, did he? Wait, so that means Tucker's dating—"

"Mom," Danny choked. "Can't—breathe—"

Maddie blinked, looking down at him before jumping back, allowing her son to breathe much-needed air.

"I know it's a lot to take in," he panted. "But yeah, it was me. Are you… okay with that?"

"Danny," Maddie said seriously, grasping his shoulders. "It is a lot to take in, and it might take a while to get used to it all, but you know that I love you no matter what, right?"

"Right," Danny said, grinning weakly back at her. "I guess I knew that. I just thought… I don't know what I thought. I guess I knew you'd accept me. You've done it before."

"I've—what?" Maddie asked, and Danny's grin widened mischievously.

"That was in an alternate reality, of course. It was—what, the second time I saved the world? The first time was—"

"Save it for later," Maddie said weakly. "If I find out anything else tonight, I just might have a heart attack." Then she thought of something. "Jack! Danny, we need to tell Jack tonight! He's going to keep hunting you until he knows."

Maddie paused, guiltily remembering every shot _she_ had taken at her son. Sensing this turn of thoughts, Danny quickly captured her attention.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her with a cocky wink. "There's no _way_ Dad's gonna get his hands on me!"

Sinking through the floor, Danny reappeared behind her seconds later with a triumphant shout. Only then did he notice her shocked expression and the hand clutching her heart.

"Um, too much to soon?"

"A bit," Maddie said faintly. Shaking her head, she said with a stronger voice, "I do have one more question, though."

"Shoot," he said, grinning giddily. Maddie smiled back.

"Whatever are we going to do with Vlad?"

As expected, Danny glared at her.

"The freaking fruit loop _again?_ For the love of _crap_ _!_ I swear I'm going to—"

Maddie laughed as her son ranted into the night.


End file.
